Warriors: Daylight
by Essieheartsyou
Summary: The battle with the Dark Forest cats is finally over, but Ivypool can't shake the feeling that the Dark Forest is not done with their mischievous ways. Jayfeather receives a mysterious new prophecy. Are Millie's kits the ones in the prophecy? Or is it some other kits? There are so many questions, but are there answers? Rated T even though I don't know what that means.
1. Prologue

**ALLIEGIANCES**

THUNDERCLAN

Leader **Bramblestar**-dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Deputy**Squirrelflight**-dark ginger she-cat with green eyes

Medicine cat **Jayfeather**-gray tabby tom with blind blue eyes

Warriors (toms and she-cats without kits)

**Graystripe**-long-haired gray tom

**Sandstorm**-pale ginger she-cat with green eyes

** Brackenfur**-golden brown tabby tom

** Cloudtail**-long haired white tom with blue eyes

** Apprentice, Lilypaw**

** Thornclaw**-golden brown tabby tom

** Leafpool**-light brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes, former medicine cat

** Birchfall**-light brown tabby tom

** Whitewing**-white she-cat with green eyes

** Sorreltail**-tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with amber eyes

** Berrynose**-cream colored tom

** Apprentice, Seedpaw**

** Hazeltail**-small gray-and-white she-cat

** Mousewhisker**-gray-and-white tom

** Lionblaze**-golden tabby tom with amber eyes

** Foxleap**-reddish tabby tom

** Apprentice, Molepaw **

** Icecloud**-white she-cat

** Toadstep**-black and white tom

** Rosepetal**-dark cream she-cat

** Apprentice, Cherrypaw**

** Briarlight**-dark brown she-cat, crippled from a falling tree

** Blossomfall**-tortoiseshell and white she-cat

** Bumblestripe**-very pale gray tom with black stripes

** Dovewing**-pale gray she-cat with blue eyes

** Ivypool**-silver-and-white she-cat

Apprentices (more than six moons old, in training to become warriors)

**Cherrypaw**-ginger she-cat

**Molepaw**-brown-and-cream tom

**Lilypaw**-dark tabby she-cat with white patches

**Seedpaw**-very pale ginger she-cat

Queens (she-cats expecting or nursing kits)

**Daisy**-cream long-furred cat from the horseplace

**Brightheart**-white she-cat with ginger patches (mother to

Amberkit, a tortoiseshell-and-white she-kit, Dewkit, a pale gray tabby tom, and Snowkit, a pure white tom)

** Cinderheart**-gray tabby she-cat (expecting Lionblaze's kits)

** Millie**-striped gray tabby she-cat with blue eyes (expecting Graystripe's kits)

Elders (former warriors and queens, now retired)

**Purdy**-plump tabby former loner with a gray muzzle

** Dustpelt**-dark brown tabby tom

** Spiderleg**-long limbed black tom with brown underbelly with amber eyes

SHADOWCLAN

Leader **Blackstar**-large white tom with one jetblack forepaw

Deputy **Rowanclaw-**ginger tom

Medicine cat **Littlecloud**-very small tabby tom

Warriors **Smokefoot**-black tom

**Toadfoot**-dark brown tom

** Crowfrost**-black-and-white tom

**Ratscar**-Brown tom with long scar across his back

**Snowbird**-pure white she-cat

**Owlclaw**-light brown tabby tom

**Shrewfoot**-gray she-cat with black feet

**Olivenose**-tortoiseshell she-cat

** Tigerheart**-dark brown tabby tom

**Dawnpelt**-cream furred she-cat

**Starlingwing**-ginger tom

Queens (she-cats expecting or nursing kits)

** Ivytail**-black, white, and tortoiseshell she-cat (expecting Owlclaw's kits)

** Applefur** - mottled brown she-cat (mother of Starlingwing's kits, Ferretkit, a light brown tabby she-kit, and Deerkit, a dark brown she-kit

** Tawnypelt**-tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes (expecting Rowanclaw's kits)

Elders (former warriors and queens, now retired)

**Scorchfur**-dark gray tom

**Oakfoot**-small brown tom

** Pinenose**-black she-cat

WINDCLAN

Leader **Onestar**-brown tabby tom

Deputy **Ashfoot**-gray she-cat

Medicine Cat **Kestrelflight**-mottled gray tom

Warriors **Crowfeather**-dark gray tom

**Owlwhisker-**light brown tabby tom  
**Apprentice, Whiskerpaw**

**Whitetail**-small white she-cat

** Gorsetail**-very pale gray-and-white tom with blue eyes

**Weaselfur**-ginger tom with white paws

**Harespring**-brown-and-white tom

**Leaftail**-dark tabby tom with amber eyes

**Antpelt**-brown tom with one black ear

**Emberfoot**-gray tom with two dark paws

**Heathertail**-light brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes  
**Apprentice, Furzepaw**

**Breezepelt**-black tom with amber eyes  
**Apprentice, Boulderpaw**

** Swallowtail**-dark gray she-cat

** Sunstrike**-tortoiseshell she-cat with large white mark on her forehead

Apprentices (more than six moons old, training to be warriors)

** Whiskerpaw-**light brown tom

** Furzepaw**-gray-and-white she-cat

** Boulderpaw**-large pale gray tom

Queens (she-cats expecting or nursing kits)

** Sedgewhisker**-light brown tabby she-cat (expecting Emberfoot's kits)

** Nightcloud**-black she-cat (expecting Crowfeather's kits)

Elders (former warriors and queens, now retired)

** Webfoot-**dark gray tabby tom

** Tornear**-tabby tom

RIVERCLAN

Leader **Mistystar**-gray she-cat with blue eyes

Deputy **Reedwhisker**-black tom

** Apprentice, Hollowpaw **

Medicine Cat **Mothwing**-dappled golden she-cat  
** Apprentice, Willowshine **

Warriors **Graymist**-pale gray tabby she-cat

** Apprentice, Troutpaw**

** Mintfur**-light gray tabby tom

** Icewing**-white she-cat with blue eyes

** Minnowtail**-dark gray she-cat  
** Apprentice, Mossypaw **

** Pebblefoot**-mottled gray tom  
** Apprentice, Rushpaw **

** Mallownose**-light brown tabby tom

** Robinwing**-tortoiseshell-and-white tom

** Beetlewhisker**-brown-and-white tabby tom

** Petalfur**-gray-and-white she-cat

** Grasspelt**-light brown tom

Apprentices (more than six moons old, training to be warriors)

**Rushpaw**-light brown tabby tom

**Mossypaw**-brown-and-white she-cat

**Troutpaw**-pale gray tabby she-cat

**Willowshine**-gray tabby she-cat, medicine cat apprentice

**Hollowpaw**- dark brown tabby tom

Queens (she-cats expecting or nursing kits)

** Duskfur**-brown tabby she-cat (expecting Beetlewhisker's kits)

** Mosspelt**-tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes (expecting Grass pelt's kits)

Elders (former warriors and queens, now retired)

**Dapplenose**-mottled gray she-cat

** Pouncetail**-ginger-and-white tom

**Sorry the allegiences are so long. They're almost the same as in the book.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Warrior Cat series, Erin Hunter does.**

**Note: I know I may have gone overboard with emphasis on the pregnant queens, but the plot has to do with kits. **

_ Prologue_

_ Jayfeather padded through the starlit forest. "Bluestar? Yellowfang?" For once, he didn't see any cats in StarClan's hunting ground._

_ "Psst!" hissed a voice from the shadows of a hollow log. _

_ "Who's there?" meowed Jayfeather in a hushed whisper. _

_ "Be quiet and come here, I have something important to tell you, really important. This is about the fate of the clans." A small brown paw beckoned him. He crept forward. Two eyes shone like beacons in the shadows. "Take care of your queens, Jayfeather." Rasped the voice. _

_ "What kind of advice is that?" snapped Jayfeather, "I thought you said this was important!"_

_ "It is! There will be a kit born to a queen of your Clan. This kit will carry the destiny of the Clans on it's back." Jayfeather lurched back in surprise. _

_ "Whose kit? What will its name be? When will it be born? Is it a she-cat or a tom?" Jayfeather tried to keep all his questions from overflowing. _

_ "None of that matters!" yowled the tom in the shadows._

_ "Of course it does! Tell me!"_

_ "I don't kno-_

_ "What do you mean you don't know?" spat Jayfeather, bristling in shock. "If this is really that important, we have to know which kit it is! What if-" Jayfeather broke off, realizing he could no longer see the eyes in the shadows. _

_He snarled, pushing through the bracken, trying to find the mysterious tom, but he was alone. The cat had vanished without a trace. He woke to the familiar darkness of his own den._

**Sorry for the short prologue and any gramatical errors and so on. R&R! Hope you enjoy!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I, sadly, do not own the warrior series. **

Chapter One

"Jayfeather?" Jayfeather continued stripping tansy leaves from the stalk, not even bothering to face the cat that had entered his den. "Jayfeather? It's me Millie." _I know that. Just cause I'm blind doesn't mean I'm stupid._

"Hello Millie. What can I do for you today?" he asked politely, even though he already knew the answer.

"I just want you to check again to make sure my kits are going to be okay." _I knew it. _Jayfeather thought glumly. _Doesn't she know by now that there's no way to tell_? It wasn't his fault she was expecting kits!

"I'm busy, come back later." He muttered angrily. He felt surprise spark from her pelt.

"Sorry." She stammered, shock radiating through her words. " I just wanted to make sure my kits would be healthy, because I'm not so young anymore." _No! I hadn't an idea! _Jayfeather turned and began taking stock of the juniper berries. He heard her pad out of the den.

Ever since Millie found out she was expecting kits again, it seemed as though she'd been in the medicine den whenever Jayfeather turned around.

He was so distracted he hadn't even noticed that he'd gotten juniper all over his paws. "Mouse dung!" He said aloud.

They didn't have any herbs to spare, not with Leafbare on the way. He would have to ask a border patrol to pick some up on the way back to camp.

Lionblaze had just gathered a hunting patrol when he saw Millie pad out of Jayfeather's den with her head down.

"Hey, Millie, what's up?" She padded over heavily; even walking was a struggle for her, with her belly so round with kits.

"Jayfeather wouldn't check to see if my kits are okay." _Can Jayfeather even do that? _Lionblaze thought. "I know I'm not as young as I used to be, but I want to know if my kits will be fine," she continued "I mean, I'm getting closer to kitting every day." Lionblaze nodded like he was listening, but he was really thinking of his own mate, Cinderheart, who had just moved to the nursery. "What do you think, Lionblaze?" Millie asked.

"Huh? What? Oh, yeah totally." He replied halfheartedly. Looking satisfied, Millie padded to the nursery. She eased herself down onto her side, her belly resting on the mossy ground.

Lionblaze flicked his tail to lead the patrol out of camp, but Jayfeather hurried out of the medicine den, and right towards Lionblaze's patrol. _What is it now?_

"Lionblaze!" he mewed, tasting the air, "Are you going on a patrol?"

"Yes." Lionblaze reported unenthusiastically, "If I can actually get around to leaving the camp." He added under his breath.

"What?" Jayfeather mewed, then he quickly continued; "Never mind. I need you to pick up some juniper on the way back to camp." Jayfeather instructed.

"Juniper," meowed Lionblaze thoughtfully, "that's a berry, right?"

"Yes," said Jayfeather impatiently, "now get on with it." Under Jayfeather's blind gaze, Lionblaze lead his patrol out of camp.

Dovewing stretched luxuriously in her nest. She brushed her pelt against Bumblestripe's. Her movement woke him up. He purred and twined his tail with hers.

"Want to go hunting this morning?" he murmured in her ear.

"I'd love to," she replied as she washed her face. She padded out of the den with Bumblestripe by her side. They headed to the fresh-kill pile. Dovewing's stomach growled.

"Somecat's hungry." purred Bumblestripe, his whiskers twitching with amusement. She purred in agreement and picked out a plump starling. Bumblestripe found a tasty looking shrew and settled down beside her. She devoured her starling in a few quick bites. "That was fast." Said Bumblestripe mildly, but she could tell he was surprised.

"I guess I'm just really hungry." She mewed, "I was up pretty late on a patrol at moonhigh." He flicked his ear sympathetically, as he finished off his mouse. She couldn't help glancing back at the fresh-kill pile; she wanted another piece of fresh-kill so badly. But Bumblestripe stood and headed towards the tunnel.

"Are you coming?" he meowed. She stared at the fresh-kill pile longingly, then nodded and padded after him.

"Let's go to the beech copse!" yowled Bumblestripe once they were out of camp. "I'll race you there!" they shot through the forest, darting between trees, Dovewing was just pulling ahead when she felt a sharp pain in her belly. She stopped, and dropped into a crouch. "Are you okay?" Bumblestripe's stride faltered, and he halted beside her.

"I'm fine." She mewed, straightening with difficulty. "Maybe we should go back to camp though."

** Ooh, what's up with Dovewing? R&R please!**


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Ivypool crept up on the mouse she'd spotted among the roots of the sky oak. Her paws slid across the leaves, she was determined not to let this one get away.

She'd been to busy thinking about the dark forest to hunt properly. Dovewing kept insisting that the battle was over and she didn't need to go there anymore, but she just had a feeling that their mischief wasn't over.

"Yes!" she yowled as she landed squarely on her prey. Thornclaw strode into the clearing, followed by Blossomfall and Toadstep.

"Nice catch." He meowed, "but I think you just scared off every piece of prey from here to fourtrees.

"Sorry," she mewed, ashamed. "I'll try not to be as loud next time."

"It's okay, we're going back to camp anyway, come on." She followed at the rear of the patrol. Her mouse was plump, but all the other members of the patrol had caught more than one piece of fresh-kill each.

She tried to place her mouse on the pile as discreetly as possible, hoping no one would notice. No such luck.

"Good catch Ivypool," It was Squirrelflight, the deputy, "Could you bring it to the nursery please?"

"Sure." Ivypool padded into the nursery.

Cinderheart was trying to convince Daisy that she didn't need to be in the nursery yet.

"I'm still _moons_ away from kitting!" she complained. It was true, her soft underbelly had just begun to round, and it would be a while yet until she had to worry about kitting. Ivypool purred and set down her mouse.

"Did you catch it yourself?" mewed Cinderheart, when Ivypool nodded; she flicked her tail across her flank in appreciation. "I'm sure Millie will really appreciate it. I'll wake her." Cinderheart prodded Millie's swollen belly.

The striped gray she-cat raised her head sleepily and tried to sit up. Cinderheart let out a mrrow of laughter and pushed Millie up gently. For a second, Ivypool couldn't help feeling jealous of these she-cats who never had to worry about stuff like training in the dark forest. For once, she just wanted to be a normal cat.

Jayfeather gathered a mouthful of borage leaves and started towards the nursery. Millie was so close to kitting, he needed to make sure she would have enough milk. He stalked across the clearing, and pushed through the brambles and into the nursery. Millie was gulping down a mouse from an awkward position on the floor. He pushed over half the leaves. She glanced up in surprise.

"These will help your milk come." He explained, feeling a little uncomfortable after their run-in that morning. Millie simply nodded in thanks, and licked them up.

"Brightheart, is your milk coming okay?"

"Yes, thank you. Could you check my kits quickly? I think Dewkit has a cold." Jayfeather nodded brusquely and pressed his nose to Dewkit's tiny forehead.

"He's fine. Maybe a little chilled from the cold weather." He reported. "If he gets worse, I can give him some herbs."

"Thanks Jayfeather. If you don't mind me asking, who are the rest of the borage leaves for?" she asked, glancing at the remaining pile of leaves.

"They're for Cinderheart, I know she has a while to go, but they can't hurt." Brightheart nodded, satisfied.

"She went out hunting," said Daisy, "We tried to stop her, but..." she trailed off. Jayfeather blinked.

"Okay, I'll come back later." He dipped his head to the queens. "I should be going. Get me if you need anything." The she-cats mewed their goodbyes as he padded out of the nursery.

He had just entered the clearing when Bumblestripe skidded to a halt beside him.

"Jayfeather, I was looking for you! Can you come check if Dovewing is okay?"

_Finally,_ thought Lionblaze as he led the patrol towards the WindClan border.

"Spread out and catch as much fresh-kill as you can." He instructed his patrol.

Lionblaze slid over the mossy ground, sneaking up on a plump wood pigeon. _Fox Dung!_

It heard him at the last second and started to take off. He lunged at the last minute and clawed at its outstretched wings. It faltered and he took the opportunity to rake his claws over the bird's back. It limply fell to the ground. _A messy catch, but I'll take it. _

Lionblaze kicked dirt over his kill and headed deeper into the forest. He tasted the air. _Vole!_ He darted forward and barely missed a small gray body as it disappeared into its burrow.

"Bad luck." Sympathized a voice. Lionblaze spun around.

"Cinderheart!" he meowed in shock. "What are you doing out of the nursery?" She sighed and settled down on the carpet of leaves.

"I just wanted some fresh air." She mewed exasperatedly. "Don't queens get to hunt?" Lionblaze inspected her skeptically, deciding she didn't look much different.

"Well," he conceded, "I guess." She purred.

"I thought you might say yes. Let's hunt together."

Cinderheart chased a fat squirrel into Lionblaze's outstretched claws, but missed a rabbit. Lionblaze was about to dash off in pursuit, but Cinderheart faltered as she tried to catch her breath.

"Cinderheart?" Lionblaze queried.

"I'm fine, just winded." The gray queen insisted. Lionblaze examined her.

"Maybe you should go back to camp." Cinderheart shook her head.

"I'm fine," she persisted, "See? I've caught my breath already."

"Come on Cinderheart. Just go." She calmly groomed a paw.

"Fine," she huffed, "but only because it means so much to you." She padded away heavily. Lionblaze purred, then raced back to collect his prey.

**Sorry, not an interesting ending. Can some more people please review? Hope you enjoyed!**


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Dovewing started walking back to camp. Bumblestripe had insisted on hurrying to get help, but she felt much better now. She had almost reached the tunnel when she ran into Bumblestripe and Jayfeather.

"Dovewing!" Bumblestripe meowed, "Are you feeing better?"

"Yeah. You didn't need to get Jayfeather. I'm fine." She insisted. Jayfeather turned his blind gaze on her.

"What happened?" he asked. "Bumblestripe told me you collapsed while you were hunting." Dovewing didn't know what to say.

"I just had a pain in my belly. I think I'm fine though. Maybe just some bad fresh-kill?" Dovewing suggested. Jayfeather seemed to contemplate this idea.

"Possibly. I should still check you out though."

"No, no. Really I'm fine." Dovewing knew Millie was really close to kitting, and she didn't want Jayfeather to be spending time with her when he could be helping Millie, plus, she had a sneaking suspicion what the pain really was.

"You should go check on Millie."

"Well, if you're sure that you're okay," Jayfeather began. She nodded rapidly. "Alright, I'll go. But if it gets worse, make sure to get me."

Jayfeather padded away and she was left alone with Bumblestripe, who looked confused.

"Why didn't you want Jayfeather to help you?" he mewed.

"I just didn't want to waste his time. I'm fine. Want to get back to hunting?" He purred in way of acceptance.

"Of course. Look-" he signaled with his tail, "there's a thrush over there. If you circled around there, we would have it trapped." Dovewing nodded.

"Great plan. Let's do this." She slunk around the tree and waited for Bumblestripe's signal. At the flick of his tail, she yowled and lunged at the tree. The thrush let out an alarm cry that was cut off as Bumblestripe snapped its neck between his jaws.

"Nice!" purred Dovewing. She rubbed her cheek against Bumblestripe's flank and twined her tail with his. "Come on," she mewed, "let's go back to camp."

Ivypool trudged out of camp. She wished Squirrelflight had chosen her for a patrol or something, and then she would at least have something to do. Something other then thinking about the dark forest, with it's slimy moss and dark sky. Ivypool shivered just thinking about it.

She ran through the woods, trying to escape her thoughts and fears, and darted right by Dovewing and Bumblestripe, who were carrying some juicy looking fresh-kill.

"Hi!" she mewed breathlessly, adrenaline still pulsing through her from her dash through the woods.

"Ivypool!" exclaimed Dovewing. "Hi!" Bumblestripe nodded in greeting, but Ivypool looked away. "We were just heading back to camp," said Dovewing, "are you coming?"

"Okay," Ivypool didn't know what else to do. She didn't feel like hunting by herself. She followed Dovewing and Bumblestripe, feeling very much like a third wheel. When they reached camp, she was very pleased to find out that Squirrelflight wanted Bumblestripe for a patrol, but not Dovewing.

"Want to visit Cinderheart in the Nursery?" Dovewing asked. Ivypool didn't really want to; after all, she'd just _been _in the Nursery. But she did want to spend time with her sister, and if her sister wanted to spend time in the Nursery, so be it. Ivypool sighed.

"Fine, let's go." Muttered Ivypool. She didn't know what her sister's sudden fascination with the Nursery was, but she didn't care.

They pushed into the Nursery. Cinderheart was curled up in the corner, her gray flanks rising and falling. Daisy was helping Brightheart groom Snowkit while Dewkit and Amberkit played mossball. Mille was grooming her striped tabby pelt. She glanced up as they entered the den.

"Hello again, Ivypool. Dovewing, it's nice to see you." Dovewing flicked in ear in greeting. Ivypool nodded, still pleased that Bumblestripe wasn't here.

"We were here to see Cinderheart, but I can see she's sleeping." Dovewing added, waving her tail in Cinderheart's direction. Millie nodded.

"She went out hunting and it really tired her out," She mewed thoughtfully.

Just then, Graystripe's head poked through the entrance to the nursery.

"Millie," he purred, "I brought you a couple of shrews." He dropped them in front of her swollen belly. She purred in response. The gray warrior dipped his head to Ivypool and Dovewing and ducked out of the nursery.

"Want to share?" offered Millie, when the young she-cats shook their heads, she replied with a sigh, "I feel like all I do these days is eat and sleep."

Jayfeather walked back to camp lost in thought. _Why did I even bother going with Bumblestripe? Dovewing was fine. _And if she wasn't fine, she would come see him. He had better things to do then chase after young warriors who had eaten some bad fresh-kill.

Jayfeather stalked into the clearing. He paused at the fresh-kill pile and tasted the air.

"Cinderheart! Come to my den please."

"Oh. Okay." She sounded a bit surprised, but she followed him into his den and sat down on the sandy floor.

"I just wanted to give you some borage leaves. They'll help your milk come." Cinderheart nosed the pile of leaves Jayfeather had set in front of her.

"What are they again? And my milk won't have to come for a while yet."

"They're borage, and eat them." She pointedly licked her stomach, which had just begun to swell since she found out she was expecting kits. Still, it was good to know what the herbs tasted like so she could get used to them.

_Mouse dung! _He'd forgotten to check on Millie. As close to kitting as she was, Jayfeather had to check on her at least twice a day.

"Just eat them." He snapped, grabbing some herbs and folding them in an oak leaf. "I'm going to check on Millie."

Jayfeather felt like he was spending all day in the Nursery. He padded inside. He opened his mouth to scent the air. He padded over to where Millie was eating for what seemed like the tenth time that day. She was devouring a couple of shrews in ravenous mouthfuls.

"Jayfeather!" she mewed, her mouth full of fresh-kill. "I was just going into the clearing to catch the last of the sunlight."

"Okay," Jayfeather meowed, "just remember to eat these herbs." She flicked her tail in acknowledgement.

Lionblaze padded into camp to see Cinderheart appear from inside the medicine den.

"Hey Cinderheart, are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine. Jayfeather was giving me some herbs," that didn't sound very convincing to Lionblaze, but he nodded.

"So, I guess you'll be going back to the Nursery now." He meowed; slightly disappointed she didn't sleep next to him anymore. She nodded.

"I guess I'll go see if Squirrelflight needs me for any patrols." Lionblaze Cinderheart flicked her ears and mewed uncertainly,

"You could come visit me in the Nursery," Lionblaze didn't want to tell her, but he didn't feel comfortable in the Nursery.

"Uh, maybe later, okay? I should go." He turned and padded across the clearing. "Hey, Squirrelflight, are there any patrols I can go on?" Squirrelflight scanned the patrol that was leaving the camp.

"That's a hunting patrol," she murmured half to herself. "And you've already been hunting today, maybe a border patrol?" Squirrelflight glanced up at him self-consciously and meowed, "Sorry, it just seems like there's so much work to do. Can you take Icecloud and Blossomfall to the ShadowClan border?" Lionblaze twitched his whiskers in agreement. He Icecloud and Blossomfall. Blossomfall exited the Warrior's Den with a yawn.

"But I just went hunting at sun-high!" she complained.

"Sorry," said Lionblaze, "but someone has to check the border. Come on." He led the way out of camp and towards the border. He raised his tail,

"Stop!" he hissed, "Fresh ShadowClan scent!" he jumped back as a tawny shape hurtled out of the bushed and flung itself at him. It yowled in rage, but he batted it aside effortlessly. He peered more closely at what had attacked him. It was a young tom, probably a recently made apprentice. He stunk of ShadowClan scent, and he had crossed from the border. However, he was now, _over _the border.

"Why are you in ThunderClan territory?" Lionblaze mewed sharply.

**Cliffhanger! Hope you enjoyed.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Sorry it's been a long time. Hope you enjoy!**

Chapter Four

Dovewing squeezed out of the Nursery and walked into Jayfeather's den.

"Jayfeather?" she mewed, Jayfeather appeared from behind a rock ledge.

"Yes? Dovewing?" he meowed, "Is your belly hurting again?" Dovewing shuffled her paws.

"Well, no, but I think I know why my belly was really hurting before." Jayfeather pricked his ears and leaned forward.

"I'm listening." Dovewing beckoned him closer with her tail and lowered her voice.

"I think..." she glanced around then leaned in closer and hissed what she thought in his ear. Jayfeather froze. Then nodded slowly.

"Definitely a possibility. Let me see." He directed her on what to do. "Well, it looks like you were right. You should tell," He paused, "you know." His whiskers twitched meaningfully. Dovewing nodded, engrossed in her own thoughts.

"I guess you're right, I'll go now." She pushed passed the bramble screen and into the clearing. Dovewing found Bumblestripe eating by the fresh-kill pile. She opened her jaws to say something, but quickly clamped her jaws around a fat squirrel. She let out a muffled purr and settled down with her squirrel. She felt Jayfeather glaring at her from the entrance to the Medicine Den. Dovewing swallowed a mouthful of squirrel and purposely looked away.

"Hey, Dovewing? Are you okay? You're acting kind of weird." Dovewing gulped.

"Well, now that you mention it, I'm, uh..."

"What?" mewed Bumblestripe. Dovewing took a deep breath. _Why is this so hard? _She asked herself. She braced her shoulders and faced him.

"Bumblestripe, I have something to tell you. I'm..." Bumblestripe leaned in expectantly, Dovewing sucked in a deep breath. "I'm expecting your kits!" she blurted. Bumblestripe stared in, shock.

Ivypool rolled in a stinking pile of mud. She then clawed her way up a decaying tree and crouched there, hidden from view. She was in the Dark Forest again. It was much harder now, because if she were caught here now, she'd be killed without hesitation.

"Are you sure?" Ivypool tensed on her branch at the sound of voices. _Snowtuft? _Ivypool thought she recognized the scent of the white tom padding by. He was talking closely with a raggedy she-cat, _Mapleshade! _Ivypool was certain the old she-cat would have faded away by now, but she was still here in the Place of No Stars. Mapleshade tensed, the transparent fur on her shoulders rising.

"I smell ThunderClan! It's that traitorous fleabag Ivypool!" she rasped to Snowtuft. Ivypool held her breath and hoped the sharp stench of mud would cover her scent. Snowtuft, startled, glanced around the clearing. He laid his tail tip reassuringly on Mapleshade's shoulder.

"It's fine, she's not here. Even _she's _not stupid enough to come back after what she did." Snowtuft bared his broken teeth, "And if she comes back, her pelt will be lining my nest!" he yowled menacingly. Ivypool flinched, making a branch of dead leaves rattle.

"What was that?" Mapleshade's ears pricked. Snowtuft gestured with his tail at the tree she was hiding in.

"Probably just a squirrel or something hiding in the branches." He meowed calmly. But Mapleshade arched her back, hissing and spitting.

"There is no prey in the Dark Forest you mousebrain!" she spat.

"Well, what do you propose it is?" Snowtuft retorted.

"It's a spy! There're always spies!" Mapleshade lashed her tail and her eyes gleamed. She spun towards the tree and started circling it. _Wake up! Wake up, wake up, wake up! _Ivypool closed her eyes desperately and tried to imagine her soft warm den and mossy nest. But she heard Mapleshade and Snowtuft arguing in the background, and was having trouble thinking calm thoughts. Suddenly, just as she started to wake, she heard Snowtuft yowl,

"It doesn't matter if there are spies, Mapleshade, they won't be expecting our ambush no matter what!"

Ivypool jolted awake. _No! Wait! I have to figure out who they're going to ambush!_ Ivypool buried her muzzle in her paws, trying to sleep her way back to the Dark Forest, but she was already too late.

Jayfeather yawned. He'd been on his paws all day. He collapsed into his nest and welcomed sleep.

When he awoke, he was standing by the Moonpool. His warrior ancestors were standing in the hollow. Jayfeather pricked his ears and heard them arguing. Mousefur was lashing her tail and spitting accusations at Lionheart, Bluestar had dropped into a battle crouch and lashed out a forepaw at Yellowfang. All around him, StarClan cats were attacking each other.

"Stop! You must stop!" yowled Jayfeather. The fighting abruptly cut off and the cats stared at him. Yellowfang hissed at him and bared her teeth in a snarl. Jayfeather arched his back at her and unsheathed his claws. "What are you snarling at now? If it's not one thing, it's another." He spat. Yellowfang paused,

"You think you know everything! But I'm a member of StarClan!" she rasped angrily.

"Well I'm part of the four! The four who hold the power of the stars in their paws, or had you forgotten?" Jayfeather retorted. "Now just get on with it and tell me what you called me here to tell me." He glanced around the hollow once more. He spotted Firestar seated among the ranks. The ginger tom dipped his head to Jayfeather. There was a long period of silence. Then Snowfur stood. The pure white she-cat was Bluestar's sister, who was killed by a monster when she was a young queen. She faced Jayfeather and mewed,

"_The darkness has passed, but your troubles are not over. An old enemy will arise from the ashes. Four kits will be born the kin of gray and fire. They shall carry the destiny of the clans on their backs. _I'm sorry that it has to be this way Jayfeather, but I am only the messenger, I cannot change the outcome." Snowfur dipped her head, and the ranks of StarClan began to fade.

**Free waffles and cookies for reviews! Review if you love Ivypool! **


	6. Chapter 5

**Thanks for all the kit names guys! As you can tell, my laptop is charged again. I forgot to write responses to a lot of the reviews, so I'll do that now.**

**So most of you are wondering who the mysterious cat in the prologue is, and I didn't think he was too important, but I might mention him later on. Anyway, that cat is Molepelt. I actually think I described him wrongly, but whatever. **

**Double rainbow power123- I know, I know, you were the second reviewer, I should have responded earlier. Don't worry, there's no Dove/Tiger. Also, sorry, but I'm not putting in Jay/Briar, because Jayfeather would never do that.**

**Pumpkinfur- Sorry, I know you reviewed a while ago, but thanks for the kit names! Do you mind if I use some of the names for kits other than Dovewing? I was thinking about using Pumpkinkit for Squirrelflight. (If she has kits) Oh, and I used Shadekit too, but I used it before you reviewed (it's later on in the story) but thanks anyway! **

**WildCroconaw- I know you reviewed a long time ago too, but the kit he is referring to is actually several kits, five, I think. (My mistake)**

**Blossomstripe- Thanks for all the allegiance comments! I basically just copied them out of The Last Hope and made some random cats die or move to the nursery, and so forth. If anyone else sees mistakes in the allegiances or anything, it was me being stupid. ;)**

**Foxbracken - Phoenix Everren- Wow, you gave quite a few names there! I saw a lot of my personal favorites in there :). I wasn't sure if I should use them, but if you like them too, I think I will. **

**Bramblewhisker88- Thanks!**

**ShastamaeFirepool- I've already pretty much decided on kits names, but if you have any good ones, I could definitely change some of them.**

**Fire in the Willows- Oh, sorry, I didn't know that.**

**Contrary To Popular Belief- Thanks for the names! I've always loved Dapplekit!**

**'Guest'- Um, okay.**

**Now, I know you're probably getting bored, and just want to get to the story, but I have a few more things I have to say. The first thing is that I noticed that I had mistakes in the allegiances and summary, and I want to clarify those. In the summary, I said 'Is Dovewing keeping a secret from Bumblestripe?' and that makes no sense, because she is not, so disregard that comment and I'll change it later. Also in the summary, I said there was only one kit in the prophecy, and there was in the early stages of the story, but I changed that, and now there is more kit. Now on to allegiances- later on in the story *spoilers* Daisy is expecting kits, but Spiderleg is in the elders den, plus, they don't really like each other, so I'm not sure about that. In ShadowClan, I added a new kit to Applefur's litter, his name is Frogkit. Plus, I changed the prophecy, but I changed it after I wrote a few chapters, so if you see anything weird that doesn't make sense, ignore it.**

**R&R and enjoy!**

Chapter Five

Lionblaze threw the smaller cat to the side. It scrambled to its paws and hissed. "What's your name?" demanded Lionblaze once more.

"Frogkit!" spat the tiny tom, still trying to be ferocious. Lionblaze exchanged glances with the rest of his patrol. Frog_kit_?

"And you're out of your camp and in ThunderClan territory, because...?" Lionblaze glared down on the kit. Frogkit was about to say something when there was rustling and squeaking coming from a bush over the ThunderClan border. Lionblaze flicked his tail toward Frogkit, and Blossomfall stood over him, making sure he didn't run away. Icecloud followed him to the scraggly juniper bush. Lionblaze grabbed a branch in his jaws and moved it to the side, revealing two more kits, both she-kits. They stared up at him with huge scared eyes.

"We're so sorry!" they squealed, then burst into wails, "We didn't know that we were in ThunderClan territory! Frogkit made us! Please don't kill us!" Lionblaze exchanged a glance of amusement with Icecloud.

"Now," he began in a soothing tone, "We are _definitely _not going to kill you. But, we do need to know your names." The kits huddled together. The lighter brown tabby kit bravely answered first,

"I'm Ferretkit." Her sister followed her lead, and squeaked,

"And I'm Deerkit. Please don't kill me." The tiny brown she-kit quaked in terror.

"We're going to have to take you to our camp to see Bramblestar."

Bumblestripe gaped at her. Dovewing shuffled her paws and timidly glanced at him. He was silent for a few more heartbeats, then meowed,

"That's great news!" He nuzzled her cheek and she purred with relief. Dovewing had been so worried that he wouldn't have been happy, but he seemed almost as excited as she was. "You should move to the nursery as soon as possible." He gasped. Dovewing rapidly shook her head.

"I think I can still do patrols for a good while." Bumblestripe paused, then nodded hesitantly, without taking a pause from his joyful purr.

"We're going to be parents!" he exclaimed. A purr rumbled in Dovewing's throat.

"Yes we are. We'll make great parents, and we'll have perfect kits, they'll be gray with black stripes, just like you." Bumblestripe shook his head,

"No, if you're looking for perfect, they'd look more like you."

"What kinds of names do you like for she-kits?" Their heads were bent together as they spoke in hushed whispers about what to name their kits. Dovewing's head snapped up as she heard Bramblestar call her name.

"Dovewing? Could you come to my den please?" Dovewing bounded up highledge and into Bramblestar's den.

Dovewing sat on the stone floor. He sat in his mossy nest and waited for her to get settled. "I've been thinking about who would be good mentors for Amberkit, Dewkit, and Snowkit, and I thought, you're more than ready for an apprentice. Would you like to mentor Dewkit when the time comes?" Dovewing did want to mentor Dewkit, more than anything. She wanted to be able to have both, but she knew she couldn't, so she forced herself to speak up.

"I would love to, Bramblestar, I really would. Well, um, I'm kind of expecting kits." She mewed awkwardly. She looked down, expecting a scolding, but Bramblestar's eyes were glowing.

"That's great!" He mewed. "Congratulations," he was going to say more, but just then, there was a yowl coming from the gorse tunnel. Bramblestar's whiskers twitched in annoyance. "We'd better go see what that is."

Ivypool lifted her head from her filthy paws and began grooming herself. She'd moped around all morning; luckily, Squirrelflight hadn't wanted her for any patrols. She hadn't even bothered to clean the mud off her paws. She heard a yowl followed by curious murmurs. Ivypool licked faster, and soon she was clean. She headed out into the clearing. Bramblestar stood on highrock, and the members of the Clan had started to congregate in the center of the clearing. Ivypool turned to where everyone was staring. It was Lionblaze's patrol, leading in three kits that smelled strongly of ShadowClan.

"Bramblestar!" meowed Lionblaze. "We found these kits on our side of the border. This one," he angled his tail towards a pale beige kit, "this one even tried to attack our patrol." The kit didn't even have the sense to look ashamed.

"Really?" mewed Bramblestar, "And what might these kit's names be?" The other two kits were both female. They crouched low as if trying to disappear, but the other kit stood tall and spat,

"I'm Frogkit!" The Clan exchanged surprised glances that he still wasn't backing down. His sisters followed more timidly,

"I'm Ferretkit, and this is Deerkit, and we're really sorry, we didn't mean to trespass." Bramblestar nodded, eyes narrowed.

"We're going to have to speak to Frogkit in my den, you too Lionblaze. The other kits can wait in the camp until we're finished. Would the queens mind looking after them?" The queens shook their heads from the entrance to the nursery. After all, kits were kits.

"Come on dears," mewed Daisy, herding them into the nursery. "You can play with Amberkit, Dewkit, and Snowkit." Ivypool followed them and peeked into the nursery, the ShadowClan kits seemed to be playing nicely with Brightheart's kits, so she went back to grooming herself. Ivypool felt a cat staring at her, and looked up. Dovewing was standing above her, looking positively elated. Ivypool glanced up at her questioningly. Dovewing suddenly burst out,

"I'm going to have kits!"


	7. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! I'm just gonna post a ton of chapters today, (I have them pre-written) so I hope you enjoy them. Oh, I just thought I'd let you know, if you think my chapters are getting a little crazy, that's okay. I'll post the next one in a few minutes.**

Chapter Six

"Well, that's new," muttered Jayfeather. " I've never had ShadowClan kits staring at me in the nursery before." He was checking on Millie, and the ShadowClan kits were watching nervously. "Can you tell them to get out of here?" he hissed quietly. Daisy rolled her eyes. Jayfeather turned and looked at the kits. They squealed and raced out of the nursery. Daisy shot him a glare and hurried after them. Jayfeather relaxed, it wasn't that he didn't like them, he just didn't like them watching him work. He ran his paws over Millie's stomach. _Hmm. Her stomach's a bit large, but I say she has maybe a half moon left?_ "I'd say you have another half moon until your kits are born." Millie nodded, then asked,

"I didn't get this big with my first litter, how much more will I have to grow?" Jayfeather pressed down on her belly with his paws. Millie inhaled sharply.

"I'm not sure, but as hard to believe as it is, you're going to get quite a big bigger than this."

"Also," she mewed, "I think I've been eating too much fresh-kill. I've eaten several times today, but I'm still hungry." Jayfeather thought about this.

"It's natural for queens to be hungry when they're expecting kits. I can bring you fresh-kill whenever you're hungry." He offered. Millie mewed in thanks. "In fact, I'll go right now," he padded to the fresh-kill pile and picked up a fat chaffinch. He dropped it outside the nursery, and then went back to his den.

A moment later, Daisy walked into the den.

"Hello Jayfeather." She mewed with barely contained excitement. "I'm expecting kits again!" _What? _Jayfeather scrambled to his paws. _But the nursery is so crowded already!_ He forced himself to be polite, and meow,

"That's great! Is your nest okay in the nursery?" She nodded.

"Yes thanks. But could you just check how far along I am?" Jayfeather nodded and pressed his paws to her belly.

"You're a bit farther along than I anticipated. You have about a moon left." As he examined her, he noticed that her belly had definitely begun to swell. _How had I not noticed this!_ Daisy exited, and almost right behind her was Bramblestar. He dipped his head in greeting.

"Hello Bramblestar, do you want to discuss something with me?" Bramblestar nodded.

"The nursery is getting crowded, and Dovewing will be moving in soon. I was thinking, maybe we could move Daisy to the warriors den, just until Brightheart moves out."

"We could, except Daisy just told me she was expecting kits again." Bramblestar sighed.

"Alright, I'll have some warriors extend the nursery. Then it won't be so crowded."

"Good idea," mewed Jayfeather, "one more thing, I guess you sent those ShadowClan kits back." Bramblestar nodded.

Lionblaze led his patrol towards the ShadowClan border. Icecloud and Blossomfall followed him, keeping the kits in line.

They finally reached the ShadowClan camp; it was surrounded by brambles and reeked of ShadowClan scent. Ferretkit nudged Deerkit,

"Look! We're home!" Lionblaze stifled an amused purr. He pushed his way through the barrier, not feeling at all at ease. ShadowClan warriors peered hostilely out of their dens. Two big warriors crossed their path to Blackstar's den.

"You may not pass." Spat one of the toms, a ratty brown tom.

"Let them past, Ratscar." It was Blackstar; he appeared tired and worn out, Lionblaze suspected that ShadowClan would soon be welcoming their new leader. He kept these thoughts to himself and dipped his head respectfully.

"We hate to trespass on ShadowClan's territory, but we found these kits on out side of the border, and this kit tried to attack our patrol." A queen cried out and darted forward, licking at the kits pelts.

"Get offa me!" growled Frogkit. His mother and Blackstar both glared at him. Frogkit crouched down and hissed quietly. Ratscar spat and tore up clods of mud from the hard packed earth.

"Why are you still here? Why don't you just drop off the kits and go home?" Ratscar circled around the ThunderClan patrol. Lionblaze stiffened and tried not to bristle.

"We're here to make sure Frogkit gets an appropriate punishment for breaking the Warrior Code, not once, but twice." Lionblaze glared at Ratscar. He started to snarl a response, but Blackstar flicked his tail.

"If you acknowledge that Frogkit will be punished, will you leave?" He meowed wearily. Lionblaze nodded and gathered his patrol.

"Good hunting Blackstar." Lionblaze dipped his head politely and lead his patrol out of the camp.

Dovewing smoothed her shoulder fur. She was lying in the sun, sharing tongues with Cinderheart. The sun was setting, turning the sky orange. Dovewing saw Bramblestar leap up onto highrock. She half expected him to call a clan meeting, but he disappeared into his den. Dovewing turned back to Cinderheart and whispered,

"What do you think happened on the patrol?" After the incident with the kits, Blackstar had made sure there were about five patrols a day along the ThunderClan border. Blackstar claimed it was for the sake of all the Clans, but Bramblestar knew Blackstar had his eye on ThunderClan's territory, and had a led a patrol to speak to Blackstar himself.

Cinderheart shrugged in response to Dovewing's question.

"Anything, I guess. But since the patrol has returned, I assume everything went well." Replied Cinderheart. She bent her head to lick her belly fur. Cinderheart's belly had gotten much bigger in the past quarter moon. Dovewing wing was sure Cinderheart was going to have a big litter. Dovewing also refused to join her friend in the nursery, not yet. Her stomach had consequently swollen, and Bumblestripe protested her going out of camp. Dovewing ignored him and continued hunting and going on patrol. Dovewing spotted Jayfeather emerging from the nursery. It seemed he was always in there, checking on Millie. He urged her to come out and get some fresh air. However, she didn't often listen to him, so Dovewing was surprised when Millie plodded out of the nursery, her belly heavy with kits.

"Hello." Millie meowed, flopping next to them. Dovewing examined Millie, she looked tired, and her belly was massive. Millie sighed as she prodded a plump mouse. "Does anyone else want this?"

Ivypool maneuvered around Dovewing, Cinderheart, and Millie on her way to the fresh-kill pile. She was so lost in thought that she bumped right into Jayfeather.

"Come with me, bring Lionblaze and Dovewing. Meet behind outside the dirtplace tunnel."

"No," hissed Jayfeather, "behind the nursery. I've got something to tell you guys." Ivypool nodded reluctantly and headed towards the nursery. She beckoned a yawning Lionblaze to follow her. She guessed he'd been on patrolling the ShadowClan border all day, keeping an eye out for trouble. Lionblaze trudged after her looking positively exhausted. Ivypool ducked behind the nursery, Lionblaze squeezed in behind her. She couldn't see Jayfeather and Dovewing enter, but it was obvious when they did, because it suddenly got a lot squishier.

"Dovewing! Get off me!" Lionblaze protested through a yawn.

"It's not my fault this hiding place is so cramped!" Dovewing said hotly. Ivypool heard the hint of a snarl in Dovewing's voice. She immediately knew it wasn't a smart thing for Dovewing to do. Her fears were confirmed when a growl rumbled in Lionblaze's throat.

"You want to fight?" he snapped, "Bring it on!" Ivypool tried to wedge her way in between them, but she was stuck in the corner _behind _Lionblaze. _Why do we all have to fight? I have important news!_

"Ugh! This is ridiculous! I'm sorry, let's just talk." Dovewing harrumphed and turned away.

"Stop it, all of you! You're acting like kits!" it was Jayfeather now, Ivypool started to relax, but Dovewing broke in,

"Shut up! You're just a blind medicine cat!" Ivypool froze, but Jayfeather didn't miss a beat.

"Just because I'm blind doesn't mean I still can't claw the fur off a rude she-cat." Jayfeather snarled.

"Yes it does! At least I can fight a _mouse!_" Dovewing retorted. Ivypool felt Lionblaze stiffen and bristle beside her. Dovewing lashed her tail in frustration.

"Okay, fine. I'm sorry. What I did was stupid. I guess I'm just in a bad mood, please forgive me."

"Yeah, whatever." Lionblaze huffed.

**Like I said, kind of crazy. This one and a few others are sort of dumb, so sorry. E-waffles and cookies for reviewers!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! I posted another chapter. Nothing much is new, because I just posted a chapter. I've got five left! But they're kind of short. Enjoy!**

Chapter Seven

Jayfeather mixed a poultice of marigold and daisy leaves. He couldn't believe what had happened to Dovewing. He had no idea why she'd been so rude. However, Jayfeather had been pleasantly surprised when Lionblaze had defended him. He picked up the mixture of herbs and padded towards the nursery.

"Hello Daisy." He muttered around the mouthful of leaves. Daisy nodded cheerfully.

"Good morning Jayfeather. How are you?" Jayfeather dipped his head.

"I'm fine. How are you? What about you Cinderheart? And Millie?" Cinderheart yawned, showing her pink tongue,

"I'm fine as well, thanks." She replied.

Jayfeather stood and sniffed her pelt. "I'm going to have to try to see how many kits your going to have now, I'm sorry if it hurts." Jayfeather pushed her belly, "I'd say around two kits."

"Sometimes I wish I wasn't going to expect kits at all!" she wailed, "It hurts a lot, and I can hardly even walk anymore." Jayfeather tried to think of something that would console her, but Cinderheart started to speak,

"When you have your kits though, it will be great. They'll probably be gray, like Graystripe." A sudden though struck Jayfeather like lightning. _Graystripe? Four kits will be born the kin of gray and fire. Did Snowfur mean kin of _Graystripe? He tried not to stare at Millie, was it possible her kits would be the cats in the prophecy?

Lionblaze tried to let his fur lie flat, but it was getting harder and harder as he thought about what Dovewing had said to Jayfeather. He'd wanted to shred her pelt when she'd said that. She'd got no right. How dare she? What had gotten into her? Lionblaze hadn't realized he'd stopped walking until Foxleap slammed right into him.

"Oh, sorry. Do you scent something?" Foxleap queried. Lionblaze forced himself to sheath his claws and keep walking.

"Um, no. Sorry for the sudden stop." Lionblaze sniffed the border, and not finding anything suspicious, he signaled for the patrol to turn back.

He led them back to camp. He padded stiffly past Dovewing, who was grooming herself in the fading sunlight. Lionblaze was about to find Jayfeather when Bramblestar called a clan meeting.

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey meet beneath highrock for a clan meeting!" he yowled. Lionblaze settled down next to Cinderheart. He inhaled her familiar scent,

"Hey," he meowed, she purred in greeting. "What do you suppose he's called this meeting for anyway?" Sandstorm turned around,

"Maybe if you listen, you'd find out." She mewed with amusement. Bramblestar began to speak.

"We are gathered here today for Snowkit, Amberkit and Dewkit's apprentice ceremony. Snowkit, will you please come forward?" Snowkit padded obediently up to highrock. "Do you promise to uphold the warrior code with your life?" Snowkit nodded solemnly, and Bramblestar continued, "From this day forward, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Snowpaw. Ivypool, will you please come forward?" Ivypool padded forward. "Cinderheart passed down her knowledge to you, and you have made a loyal and brave young warrior, let us hope you will pass on your knowledge to Snowpaw." Ivypool touched noses with Snowpaw. Lionblaze thought she looked ecstatic.

"Dewkit, will you please step forward?" Dewkit walked confidently over to Bramblestar "Do you promise to uphold the warrior code with your life?" Dewkit nodded excitedly, and Bramblestar continued, "From this day forward, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Dewpaw. Toadstep, come forward please." Toadstep and Dewpaw touched noses as well. Finally, after Amberpaw was apprenticed to Sandstorm, Lionblaze went to sleep with the first feelings of hope he'd had in a while.

Dovewing fell asleep with her nose in her paws. She noticed Jayfeather, Ivypool and Lionblaze were avoiding her, and so was Cinderheart. She sighed, Lionblaze must've told her. Dovewing stood and stretched. Her belly scraped the sides of the entrance of the warrior den as she exited. She was beginning to realize how big she was getting. She couldn't even see her hind paws anymore. She waddled across the clearing to the fresh-kill pile. _First order of business, get something to eat. Then I'll talk to Jayfeather and Lionblaze_. After devouring a chaffinch and a pawful of voles, she set off to find Jayfeather. She pushed her way into the medicine den.

"Jayfeather?" Dovewing heard an unhappy grunt. "Listen, Jayfeather, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to say those things. Please forgive me. What about the things you and Ivypool were going to say? They must be important." Jayfeather paused for a moment.

"Fine. I'll forgive you; in fact, I'd forgiven you yesterday. I'm sure Ivypool is on your side, but Lionblaze is stubborn. You're going to have to ask Cinderheart to work on him. I'll put in a good word as well." Dovewing nodded.

"Meet behind the nursery at sun-high, with or without Lionblaze." Jayfeather mewed agreement, and she headed off. Dovewing hurried to the nursery. She found Cinderheart sleeping in the sun outside the nursery. Dovewing prodded her awake. Cinderheart narrowed her eyes at Dovewing. Before she could say anything, Dovewing spoke,

"Cinderheart, I didn't mean any of the things I said to Jayfeather or Ivypool or Lionblaze, you know that, right? I was just angry. Can you tell Lionblaze that I'm sorry? I have to go apologize to Ivypool." Cinderheart paused thoughtfully, then nodded.

"I know you Dovewing, and you're not a mean cat. I'll tell Lionblaze." Dovewing blinked, her eyes brimming with gratitude. She flicked her ears in a parting gesture, and hurried out of the nursery. Dovewing spotted Squirrelflight standing on highrock, giving out orders for patrols. She waved her tail.

"Yes Dovewing? I think you should be moving into the nursery soon, so maybe this could be your last patrol day?" Dovewing nodded.

"Do you know where Ivypool went? I want to do a patrol with her." Squirrelflight looked around.

"I think she's in the warriors' den. She just got back from hunting. You might not want to wake her." Dovewing shook her head.

"This is really important, it can't wait." Dovewing hurried into the warriors' den.

**Kind of a boring chapter. I'm posting another one!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Another chapter! So about the prophecy, I'm trying to make it hard to decipher, but I'm not really good at that kind of stuff, so bare with me. Enjoy!**

Chapter Eight

Ivypool was curled up in her nest. She thought of how happy she was. _I'm finally a mentor!_ Snowpaw was an excitable little ball of fur. Maybe her and Toadstep could train their apprentices together. Ivypool was about to wake up and ask him, when she felt someone shaking her. She glanced up, spotting Dovewing. She rolled her eyes. Dovewing sighed.

"I'm sorry Ivypool, I didn't come to be mean. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I was really stupid yesterday. I'm sorry." Dovewing hung her head. Ivypool gave her a quizzical look.

"Dovewing, it's fine. You didn't say anything to me anyway. We were all acting a little crazy yesterday. Come on. I have to go train Snowpaw." Ivypool stood up and shook out her pelt. "Toadstep?" The tom stirred in his nest.

"Yeah Ivypool?" she let out a purr of amusement.

"Don't forget we're mentors now! We have to go train our apprentices." Toadstep stretched.

"Okay. Let's get some fresh-kill then wake our apprentices." Ivypool flicked her ears in agreement.

"Are you coming, Dovewing?" Her littermate nodded and followed. The three young warriors padded into the clearing. Toadstep picked up a squirrel.

"Want to share?" he meowed to Ivypool. She settled down across from him and took a neat bite from the squirrel. Dovewing sat down across from her and spoke,

"Today is my last day of patrolling, and I wanted to go hunting with you." Ivypool paused.

"It's my first day of being a mentor, and I hate to slack off. Well, maybe I could go. Would you take Snowpaw training, Toadstep?"

"Sure," said Toadstep. "We can start training our apprentices together tomorrow, okay?" Ivypool waved her tail in farewell. She and Dovewing raced off into the forest. After a while, Dovewing started to fall behind. Ivypool stopped and turned back. Dovewing stopped as well.

"Let's rest here and talk." Ivypool offered. Dovewing agreed and they sat down in the shade of an oak tree. Ivypool examined Dovewing; her sister looked really happy. Ivypool was glad that Dovewing had chosen Bumblestripe over Tigerheart. Dovewing winced.

"Are you okay Dovewing?" mewed Ivypool. Dovewing nodded.

"I was just thinking about how I almost chose _Tigerheart _over ThunderClan."

"Oh," Ivypool was unsure of what to say to that, it was kind of weird that they were thinking of the same thing at the same time. "Come on, I've got to tell the rest of the three something."

"What is it now? I was trying to sleep," muttered Jayfeather as Ivypool woke him. Then he remembered Dovewing's meeting behind the nursery. He hoped this one would go better then the first one. He trudged to the nursery and squeezed behind it along with Ivypool and Dovewing.

"Is Lionblaze coming?" Dovewing asked. Jayfeather shrugged.

"I told him you were sorry and to come meet here, but I'm not sure if he'll actually come." As it turned out, he was coming, and he pushed up behind Jayfeather right then.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" he meowed.

"I'll start." Said Jayfeather, "I dreamt my way into StarClan, but they were all fighting. When they stopped, Snowfur told me a prophecy, she said:_ 'the darkness has passed, but your troubles are not over. An old enemy will arise from the ashes. Four kits will be born kin of gray and fire. They shall carry the destiny of the clans on their backs'. _That got me thinking, are the kits Millie's? Since Graystripe will be the kits' father and all. Obviously, there's also kin of Firestar involved in this as well, but I'm not sure who that could be. " Ivypool frowned, like she was thinking of something very important.

"Couldn't they be Dovewing's kits too? Because Bumblestripe's father is Graystripe, that would mean Dovewing's kits are related to Graystripe as well. And she's part of the big three, so she's already part of a prophecy." Jayfeather gaped. He hadn't thought of that. He turned to look at Dovewing.

"That's it. You're moving to the nursery and not coming out." Dovewing sighed. "Ivypool," said Jayfeather, "go on with what you were going to tell us." Ivypool's tail swished nervously.

"It's the Dark Forest, they've risen again."

Lionblaze glanced at Ivypool, unsure whether she was being serious or not. Sadly, it looked as though she was.

"So, um, how do we stop them?" Lionblaze realized that he was the first to speak. "Well, that must be the second part of the prophecy. The Dark Forest is our old enemy, and if they've risen, that means they're coming back. Right?" Jayfeather nodded slowly,

"Yes." He mewed slowly, "I think you're right. We can discuss this later. Come with me Dovewing." He authoritatively led Dovewing out from behind the nursery, and they disappeared into his den. Lionblaze trailed out from their hiding spot, and ducked into the nursery.

"Hey Cinderheart." He glanced around nervously. He didn't like the nursery. It was warm, but he would rather be hunting.

"Hello Lionblaze." Cinderheart stretched. Lionblaze's tail twitched. He tried to think of something else to say, but his mind was blank.

"Um, maybe I'll go on patrol now..." he trailed off and headed towards the entrance. He accidentally trod on Millie's tail. "Sorry," he hissed as Millie started to stir. Lionblaze darted into the clearing, where it was pouring rain. Within seconds, his pelt hung to him, sopping wet. He plodded into the medicine den.

"Jayfeather?" he called. Dovewing was lying on the mossy ground, while Jayfeather examined her. The blind tom glanced up.

"Lionblaze? Did you want something?" Lionblaze shook his head.

"I just wanted to discuss the prophecy," Jayfeather blinked,

"Okay. Well, like I said, Dovewing's not allowed to leave camp, or the nursery for that matter, and the kits in the prophecy could be hers or Millie's. That's pretty much all we've got. That, and an old enemy is going to come rising from the ashes. Great stuff, huh?"

**Please R&R!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Enjoy! Yawn.**

Chapter Nine

After Lionblaze left, Dovewing padded off to the nursery. She took an extra deep breath; it was going to be the last view of the sky she got in a while. She nosed her way inside.

"Daisy? Cinderheart? Millie?" she said in a hushed voice. Millie stirred.

"Dovewing? It's great to see you. Are you moving in?" Dovewing nodded, and Millie said,

"You can make your nest by mine." She scooted over, and Dovewing shaped some moss and bracken into a nest. It was warm and cozy. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

Dovewing woke to the sound of birds chirping. She was ready to leap to her paws, and run out on patrol, but when she started to get up, she remembered she couldn't go on patrol any more. She sighed and curled back in her nest to go to sleep. She woke again around Sun-high. Dovewing had to admit it felt good to be able to do whatever she wanted, not having to worry about patrols. Snowpaw appeared at the entrance to the den, his jaws full of fresh-kill. He dropped it in the den, and then raced away. Dovewing heaved herself forwards and plucked a finch from the pile. She woke Cinderheart and Daisy before digging in herself. She finished the finch in rapid bites. Cinderheart ate slowly, not really looking hungry, and Daisy pushed the remains of her mouse aside and curled up again.

"Aren't you hungry Cinderheart?" Cinderheart shook her head.

"Not really. You can have my squirrel I guess." She pushed over the limp gray body. Dovewing gulped it down.

"Thanks." She purred, grooming her shoulder fur. "Do you think I should wake Millie?" Cinderheart shrugged,

"She usually wakes in her own time." Dovewing nodded to herself, making a note that she was still learning the routine. She got settled in her nest, but couldn't get back to sleep. She really wanted to be outside patrolling right now.

Soon, the sound of the others' breathing lulled her to sleep.

Ivypool awoke to the sound of Toadstep disentangling his paw from a tendril of bramble. He glanced up, looking embarrassed.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Ivypool shook her head.

"No, I should be getting up around now anyway. Want to go wake our apprentices? Maybe we can do some battle training." Toadstep's ear twitched.

"Sure. That sounds great." Ivypool led the way into the clearing. She paused beside the fresh-kill pile. She scented fresh squirrel, and figured Dovewing could use some company.

"I'm going to bring this squirrel to Dovewing. I'll only be a few heartbeats." Ivypool dashed into the nursery. Dovewing was staring out towards the clearing. Her pelt was perfectly smooth, like she'd spent the whole morning grooming it.

"Hey, were you going to train your apprentice?" Dovewing's mew was wistful. Ivypool butted her head against her sister's shoulder.

"Don't worry, you'll be joining us soon enough. I got to go." Ivypool hurried out into the clearing, where Toadstep was waiting for her with their two sleepy apprentices. "Hey Snowpaw!" she called, "We're going to do some battle training with Dewpaw and Toadstep. Okay?" The all-white apprentice nodded eagerly. Ivypool fell into step with Toadstep as they headed towards the ravine.

"Hey, thanks for everything, you've been really great. I'm sorry I keep making you mentor my apprentice though. I'll try to pick up my duties better from now on." Toadstep purred.

"It's okay Ivypool. I don't mind helping out, honestly. It's no big deal, I mean, I'm just doing things I have to do for Dewpaw, anyway."

"Come on, Snowpaw! You and Dewpaw are going to race to the training hollow!" yowled Ivypool, breaking into a run. She tore through the forest, Toadstep at her side, and with a sudden jolt of shock, she realized that was how she wanted things to be forever.

Jayfeather felt a cat shaking him. He blinked his eyes open and scented Brightheart standing over him.

"What?" he asked grumpily. Brightheart gestured towards the clearing with her tail.

"Millie's kits are coming! Hurry lets go." Jayfeather got to his feet and pointedly padded at a leisurely pace to the nursery. He took in the scene.

"Brightheart, get some wet moss, Daisy get a stick." The two she-cats followed his orders and raced out of the den. Jayfeather stood over Millie. He placed his paws on her swollen belly, and felt ripples passing through it.

"Shouldn't be too much longer now," he mewed. Brightheart returned first, and placed the soaked moss by Millie's head. Daisy deposited a short and thick branch. "Alright," Jayfeather said, "bite down on the stick when the pain comes." Millie obliged, and bit down sharply on the stick.

"The first kit's coming." Jayfeather said calmly. A powerful ripple rolled through Millie's round belly. A kit slithered onto the mossy ground. Jayfeather nipped at the birthing sac, and a gray kit tumbled out. "There's another one coming." Millie braced herself, another contraction seized her, and the second kit slid out. Jayfeather licked the kit, and called,

"Brightheart, lick this one until it starts breathing." Jayfeather laid the first kit down in front of himself, and started to lick it.

"Congratulations Millie, you have two healthy kits, both she-kits." Jayfeather dropped a pile of borage leaves in front of her, and padded back to his den. He curled up in his nest, utterly exhausted.

He woke the next morning, still feeling tired. He padded out into the clearing, where all the cats were milling around and talking about Millie's new litter.

"What are we going to name them?" Graystripe's voice floated out from the nursery.

**Woo hoo. Kits. You'll find out their names in the next chapter. **


	11. Chapter 10

**Yet another chapter. This is getting boring. Oh, no, wait. This is a somewhat crazy chapter. I don't know what I was thinking.**

Chapter Ten

Lionblaze squeezed into the nursery. Millie's new kits were squirming and mewling.

"Aww," cooed Cinderheart, "They're so cute! I can't wait until ours come!" Lionblaze nodded half-heartedly. They were cute, but they seemed like a lot of responsibility.

"What are you going to name them?" asked Lionblaze curiously. Millie stretched.

"We're thinking Shadekit and Fernkit." Cinderheart purred.

"Those are great names! Fernkit after Ferncloud?"

"Yes, after Ferncloud, do you think Dustpelt will mind?" Cinderheart shook her head.

"No, in fact, I think he'll be pleased." Lionblaze nodded in agreement.

"I should go. Maybe I'll go hunting." He waved his tail in farewell and padded into the clearing. Bramblestar was just calling a Clan meeting when he arrived.

"Cats of ThunderClan!" he called, "We are proud to welcome two new kits to ThunderClan, Shadekit and Fernkit!" His words were met with yowls of approval; Graystripe's was the loudest. Lionblaze padded up to high rock.

"Bramblestar, I would like to go hunting, is that okay?" Bramblestar paused,

"If you don't mind Lionblaze, I would like to take you to the gathering tonight, so you should get some rest." Lionblaze dipped his head and padded away. He didn't feel tired enough to sleep, so he tried to decide on something to do. He wouldn't visit Jayfeather; he would still be tired from helping Millie. _Maybe Millie would like some help, after all, she'll be tired as well. _Lionblaze padded back into the nursery. Millie was resting, her kits' paws kneading at her belly. Cinderheart glanced up,

"Back so soon?" she meowed. Lionblaze shrugged.

"I'm going to the gathering." Cinderheart's eyes lit up.

"Me too! It'll be my last one until our kits are born and apprenticed. Anyway, what are you doing in here?'

"I thought I could help watch Millie's kits, it'll be good practice."

Dovewing was tired. She'd been kept up half the night with Millie's yowling. She felt terrible, thinking that. Dovewing knew it was much worse for Millie than it was for her, but she was still tired.

"Cinderheart?" she whispered, the gray queen turned towards her,

"Yes Dovewing?"

"Are you going to the gathering tonight?" Cinderheart nodded eagerly.

"Yep, it'll be my last one."

"Same." Replied Dovewing. "I think it's time to go." She stood up and shook her fur out. Cinderheart followed her out into the clearing. Bumblestripe brushed his pelt against hers. Together, they joined the patrol and headed out of camp. It was nearing moonhigh when they reached the tree-bridge. Dovewing bounded across it. The scents of RiverClan and ShadowClan washed over her tongue.

"I guess WindClan isn't here yet. So we have some time to talk to the other Clans." She whispered to Bumblestripe. He nodded.

"See you later." Dovewing padded into the clearing, and was about to walk over to Cinderheart and Hazeltail, when a tabby shape intercepted her.

"Hello Dovewing," Tigerheart's voice was cool. Dovewing was about to ask him what he was doing, when she noticed a black and white tortoiseshell she-cat standing beside him. "This is my mate, Ivytail." Tigerheart nodded to the cat at his side. Dovewing's heart sank._ Can't we still be friends? _But as she glanced at Tigerheart, he smirked at her, daring her to comment on his relationship. _Oh really? I can do better than that. _She thought.

"That's great." She mewed coolly. "My mate is over there. As you can see, I'm expecting kits, so if you don't see me around for a while, you'll know where I am." Dovewing said, undaunted. Tigerheart scowled for a moment, then regained his composure.

"Good luck with that." He snarled, before stalking off with Ivytail.

"What was that?" meowed Poppyfrost thoughtfully, Dovewing pretended to be as confused as Poppyfrost was,

"Um, I don't know. I think he's in ShadowClan." Dovewing tried to play dumb. Poppyfrost continued staring at her doubtfully.

"If you're sure you don't know. The Gathering is starting, let's sit down." Dovewing settled near Poppyfrost and Cinderheart.

"Wait, we can't start yet, WindClan isn't here.'" She whispered in Cinderheart's ear.

Ivypool was curled up in her nest, trying to get some sleep while the others were at the Gathering. Seedpaw and Lilypaw were chattering like starlings. Ivypool put her paws over her ears, but it didn't seem to drown them out.

"Do you think Blackstar died?" hissed Seedpaw. Ivypool stood up and walked out of the den. She wanted to hear what was going on at the Gathering. She padded past Cloudtail, who was guarding the entrance.

"I'm going for a walk." She meowed, Cloudtail nodded. Ivypool broke into a run and tore through the forest. Before long, she had reached the WindClan border. She scented the air; she didn't smell any cats or patrols. Ivypool crept across the border, and silently crouched along the shore or the lake. She inched quietly to the tree-bridge. Ivypool bounded onto the tree. She gripped the bark with her claws, and pulled herself across. She slipped into the bushes around the island. She felt horrible; she should have just gone with the patrol.

Blackstar's yowl signaled the start of the Gathering. Ivypool listened carefully.

"ShadowClan is doing well! Ratscar and Rowanclaw have chased a badger off our territory, and although we have a shortage of apprentices, prey is plentiful. Our Clan is also blessed to have three litters of kits on the way. That is all we have to report." Ivypool peered through the holly bush she was hiding in, and saw Mistystar step forward.

"The twolegs have finally left our territory for Leafbare, and the river is full of fish. RiverClan is eating well. We have two new warriors, Rushfur and Mossyleaf!" All the Clans began to cheer for the new warriors. Ivypool scented RiverClan, ShadowClan, and of course, ThunderClan. _Wait. Is WindClan not here yet? _Ivypool asked herself with a jolt. Ivypool glanced around the clearing, trying to spot any WindClan cats, but Mistystar continued talking. "Mosspelt has recently moved to the nursery, and one of our elders has caught a cough. Mothwing has said that it's not Greencough or Whitecough, but I bid you all, be careful." A murmuring rippled through the clearing, but Bramblestar silenced them.

"ThunderClan's prey is running well. We are hunting and eating well. We have three new apprentices, Amberpaw, Snowpaw, and Dewpaw!" The cats in the clearing yowled the apprentice's names. "We also welcome Millie's new litter of kits, named Fernkit and Shadekit!" The Clans yowled once more. "And finally, our deputy, Squirrelflight, is moving to the nursery. Lionblaze will take her place as deputy!" ThunderClan froze as the other Clans erupted into cheers.

**Welcome Shadekit and Fernkit! A lot of people had the same names, but if either of these were on your list, you can either say everyone came up with it, or I came up with it. Both statements are true. Also, congrats Lionblaze. Like I said, kind of stupid.**


	12. Chapter 11

**Enjoy.**

Chapter Eleven

"Congratulations." Jayfeather meowed to Lionblaze for the hundredth time that evening. Lionblaze scowled.

"Why didn't he tell anybody? I probably looked like a mouse-brained idiot in front of all the Clans!" Jayfeather sighed. _Is he still going on about this? _

"I know, it was stupid of Bramblestar not to tell, but maybe he wanted it to be a secret. And it was clear that you're a popular choice." Lionblaze lashed his tail angrily, as if he didn't hear Jayfeather.

"He could've at least told _me_! After all, _I'm _the cat who had to stand up there, looking dumb!" Jayfeather muttered in agreement.

When they reached camp, Jayfeather padded across the clearing and into his den. Briarlight dragged herself out of her nest.

"What happened at the Gathering, Jayfeather?" Jayfeather began grooming his fur.

"Oh, you know, the usual. WindClan didn't show up, there's Greencough in RiverClan, and Lionblaze is deputy."

"What?" sputtered Briarlight; there was no shortage of shock in her mew. Jayfeather began fixing his nest.

"Squirrelflight is moving to the nursery, it just so happens she's expecting kits, and Lionblaze is the new deputy." Briarlight pulled herself frantically across the den.

"Why didn't anybody tell me?" she cried.

"Because nobody knew. Not even Lionblaze." He felt surprise spark off her pelt.

"Not even Lionblaze?" she echoed, "Why would Bramblestar do a thing like that?" Jayfeather shrugged. "And speaking of kits," she added in a more business like tone, "you should go check on Millie's." Jayfeather rolled his eyes.

"Yes, O mighty _Briarstar_. I'm going." He grumbled. He heard Briarlight's mrrow of amusement as he left the den. Jayfeather padded into the nursery. Dovewing was filling in Daisy on the interesting turn of events at the Gathering. Cinderheart was sleeping in the corner, and Millie was grooming her kits, and scolding them about how they shouldn't be awake at this hour. Jayfeather waved his tail in greeting.

"Jayfeather!" mewed Millie with relief, "I think Fernkit has a cough."

Lionblaze curled up in his nest. He refused to talk to any cat about what happened. He was enraged at Bramblestar. He had stood on one of the roots of the tree, and stared in shock at the other leaders, while Bramblestar had called out that Squirrelflight was expecting kits. It hadn't even been that bad, but he was worried that the other Clans would think ThunderClan's deputy was a mouse-brain. As exhausted as he was, he couldn't seem to get to sleep. Finally, he pulled his tail over his nose and drifted off.

He woke up early the next morning to send out patrols. Lionblaze was perfectly suited to be deputy, but he hadn't expected it to happen like it had. He stood on highrock to organize the patrols.

"Foxleap and Rosepetal, take your apprentices out for their final assessments, they're long overdue, Icecloud, go with them to help access. Toadstep take Dewpaw, Brightheart, and Bumblestripe out on border patrol. Go to the WindClan border and see if anything weird is going on."

"Can Ivypool come? Please?" called Toadstep. Lionblaze swallowed a purr, Toadstep sounded as desperate as a newly made apprentice.

"Sure, wake her and Snowpaw." Toadstep bounded off. "Blossomfall, Rosepetal and Thornclaw, you're going hunting. Graystripe, find a patrol and visit the ShadowClan border. Sandstorm, can you go with Amberpaw, and train with Cloudtail and Lilypaw? Uh, Dustpelt and Whitewing; go hunting as well." Lionblaze leapt down from highrock and padded to the fresh-kill pile.

"Hey, Lionblaze!" He glanced up to see who was calling him. It was Daisy. "Cinderheart wants to congratulate you." Lionblaze waved his tail and walked into the nursery. Cinderheart raised her head.

"Lionblaze! I can't believe it! You're deputy now. It's fantastic, I was shocked when Bramblestar announced it." Lionblaze shrugged.

"Me too, and thanks. Bramblestar made me look pretty dumb though." Cinderheart purred happily.

"He sure did, but you would've looked dumb anyway." Lionblaze's whiskers twitched with amusement. He glanced outside.

"I'd better go hunting." He meowed. Cinderheart glanced at him meaningfully.

"You sure go hunting a lot." mewed Cinderheart in a tone of voice that said she knew that he was just using excuses to get away from the nursery. "How about we go for a walk? It's pretty squished in here."

"Okay, let's go." Lionblaze led the way out of camp. Lionblaze's paws itched to break out into a run, but he forced himself to keep pace with Cinderheart's slow pace.

"You look as fat as a badger." Purred Lionblaze. Cinderheart rolled her eyes.

"Don't you think I know that?" she muttered.

Dovewing groaned, it was getting cramped in the nursery. Especially since Squirrelflight had moved in. Dovewing had never really like Squirrelflight, mainly because Lionblaze had never liked her, and she learned everything from Lionblaze. She pulled her nest as far away from everyone else's as she could. Dovewing curled up, feeling Fernkit kick her in the ribs. She pressed herself into the thorny wall. She heard Brackenfur, Thornclaw, and Spiderleg arrive. They were going to expand the nursery today. Dovewing heard them begin working. They wove brambles into the back and sides of the nursery to make more space.

"Thanks." She mewed. "We really needed that. It's starting to get really crowded in here. Too many queens." She purred. Thornclaw dipped his head cheerfully. Dovewing padded out into the clearing, and settled down by the fresh-kill pile. She was about to pick up a mouse, when there was a sharp cry from the fern tunnel. Rosepetal dashed into camp. Icecloud stumbled through the tunnel after her, supported by Foxleap; she was limping and covered in blood. Cherrypaw and Molepaw raced in behind them, wide eyed with fear. Lionblaze darted into camp, followed by Cinderheart.

"What happened?" yowled Lionblaze in shock. Icecloud staggered forward and collapsed. Foxleap began to explain,

"We ran into a badger set, and we were checking it out, when at least four badgers came out and swarmed us. Rosepetal and I tried to help Cherrypaw and Molepaw get away, but I noticed Icecloud wasn't with us. She was trying to hold the badgers, then Cherrypaw and Molepaw started to help, and we were able to get away, but the badgers are still there." Dovewing stood, stiff-legged with shock as Foxleap recounted their story. Jayfeather raced out into the clearing and began sniffing Icecloud's wounds. Bramblestar came out on highrock.

"What happened?" Lionblaze hurried over and shared Foxleap's story once more. Bramblestar stared at the camp with a somber expression. "Although we are sad that Icecloud is injured, it seems we have two new warriors to make today. Cherrypaw, Molepaw, please step forward." Cherrypaw and Molepaw exchanged awed and excited glances. Bramblestar began he ceremony. "Foxleap, has Molepaw proved that he is fit to be a warrior?" Foxleap cleared his throat.

"He has." Molepaw puffed up her chest proudly. Rosepetal meowed in agreement.

"Cherrypaw has as well." Bramblestar nodded, and continued speaking,

"Very well, Molepaw, Cherrypaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code with your life?"

"I do!" squeaked Cherrypaw.

"I do." Responded Molepaw, more reservedly.

"Then, by the power of StarClan, I give you your warrior names. Cherrypaw, from this day forward, you will be known as Cherrysky. Molepaw, from this day forward, you will be known as Molefoot."

"Cherrysky! Molefoot!" The Clan cheered for the new warriors and crowded around them to congratulate them.

**Congratulations Cherrysky and Molefoot.**


	13. Chapter 12

**Another chapter. Just warning you, in the next chapter, it gets kind of crazy I think.**

Chapter Twelve

Ivypool cheered for Cherrysky and Molefoot with the rest of the Clan. She flicked her tail at Cherrysky,

"Congratulations. Even if I do think you're an annoying furball, well done." Cherrysky purred and nodded.

"Thanks Ivypool." Ivypool moved away and headed towards the medicine den. She peered inside. Jayfeather was working on Icecloud. Briarlight was hurrying around fetching herbs and cobwebs.

"Hey. Can I help?" Jayfeather glanced up.

"No. Her life is in StarClan's paws now. I've done the best I can." Ivypool gulped. She looked at Icecloud; her white pelt was matted with herb poultices. Foxleap burst through the entrance, frantically sniffing his sister's pelt.

"Will she be all right?" he meowed anxiously. "Please don't let her die, Dustpelt's already lost Ferncloud! And kits before!" Ivypool hurried out and padded into the nursery. Dovewing was grooming her pelt. She glanced up happily when Ivypool came in.

"Ivypool! It's great to see you." Ivypool purred.

"Hey Dovewing. How much longer until your kits arrive?" Dovewing shrugged.

"Jayfeather says maybe a half-moon?" _Wow. That's soon. _

"Er, cool. Good luck!" she waved her tail in farewell and walked out of the den. She ducked inside her own den and settled into her nest. Since Cherrysky and Molefoot were out doing their vigil, the den felt lonely. Toadstep poked his head in.

"Hey Ivypool. I thought you might want some company." Ivypool wondered how he always knew just what to say.

"I do actually. Thanks." Toadstep shaped a nest next to hers and curled up.

"Goodnight Ivypool."

"Goodnight Toadstep." Ivypool fell asleep to the warmth of his pelt pressed against hers.

The next morning, she woke up and stretched, feeling her pelt brush against Toadstep's she glanced over at him, and saw him looking right back at her. Ivypool's pelt prickled with embarrassment.

"So, do you want me to go and wake our apprentices?" Toadstep shook his head.

"Lionblaze organized an apprentice training program for today with the senior warriors. We have the day off, and I was thinking we could get up later." He rolled back over, his pelt feeling soft and thick against hers. Ivypool buried her muzzle in her nest and drifted off.

Jayfeather licked a stray daisy leaf off his flank. He dug his paw into one of the herb stores.

"Catmint, catmint," he muttered to himself. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found their store. It wasn't large, but it would be enough to treat Fernkit, as small as she was. Jayfeather picked up the bundle in his jaws. He hoped Fernkit hadn't developed Greencough or Whitecough during the night.

"Millie? I've brought some herbs for Fernkit." Millie stood up in her nest.

"Thank StarClan. I think she's getting worse." Jayfeather leaned down and listened to the kit's breathing.

"Actually Millie, she's getting better. Just have her eat this and I'm sure she'll be fine." He dropped the bundle and started to head back to his den. Birchfall came hopping forward.

"Jayfeather, I've got a thorn in my pad." Jayfeather sighed.

"Come to my den." Birchfall followed him. Next, it was Rosepetal.

"I have a belly ache." Jayfeather rolled his sightless blue eyes.

"Come to my den." Just as they were about to reach the medicine den, Seedpaw came limping over.

"Jayfeather, I think I sprained my paw."

"Just get into my den, now." Jayfeather stalked into his den. He grabbed a mouthful of watermint and shoved it towards Seedpaw.

"Will this help my paw?" she asked, looking confused. Jayfeather growled in exasperation and snatched it to put it in front of Rosepetal.

"Eat this and rest." She licked them up, and headed for her den. Next, he picked up a bundle of comfrey and quickly wrapped up Seedpaw's leg. He dropped some dock next to Birchfall.

"I'll pull out the thorn, then you can chew this, and put it on your pad." Birchfall nodded. Jayfeather grasped the thorn with his teeth and pulled. Birchfall yelped and began licking his paw. Jayfeather pushed the dock towards him, then turned away from him. He heard Birchfall exit the den, still licking his paw.

Lionblaze stood on highrock. Bramblestar had told him to send a patrol to fight the badgers.

"I will lead a patrol to banish the badgers from our territory!" he called. "I want Berrynose, Foxleap, Brackenfur, Cloudtail, Toadstep and Ivypool. Berrynose, Cloudtail, Toadstep and Ivypool, are your apprentices ready to go?" The warriors nodded. "Okay then. I also want Cherrysky and Molefoot." The cats he called hurried towards him. Lionblaze leapt down leapt down and led the patrol out of camp. They crept through the undergrowth, careful not to let the badgers scent them. Foxleap inched forward.

"The set is over there. We should be quiet, they'll hear us if we get any closer." Lionblaze nodded and signaled for the patrol to spread out and stay low. Lionblaze hit the ground as a huge badger stormed out of the set. At Lionblaze's hissed command, the patrol scattered and climbed trees. Lionblaze lunged forward at the badger, and raked his claws down the side of his head. The badger lumbered forward and swiped a heavy forepaw at him. Lionblaze dodged to the side, trying to leap up and land on the badger's back. Suddenly, he felt sharp claws digging into his back, and another badger pulled him down. He heard Ivypool yowl and leap down from the tree, and on top of the first badger. Brackenfur and Cloudtail followed, lunging into battle.

"Lionblaze, go!" Berrynose spat blood out of his mouth, slashing his claws down the badger's course fur. The badger rumbled a growl and turned on Berrynose. Lionblaze's pelt was bloody, this time with his own blood. Maybe his power was only relevant to when he was fighting other cats. He turned and sunk his teeth into whatever flesh he could find. He felt strong teeth clamp around his forepaw and he yowled. Clawing at its eye, he reared up and brought down his other foreleg down hard on the badger's head. It roared in pain, and Lionblaze whirled around. He was alone. As far as he could see, it was just he and the badgers. _Have the others gone down fighting? _Lionblaze refused to give up, although felt himself weakening with every blow. As he aimed a swipe at a badger's eye, he felt himself flying through the clearing, then everything went dark.

**Ooh. Toadstep and Ivypool. And Lionblaze just got thrown into a tree.**


	14. Chapter 13

**Woo hoo! Last chapter! (For now) It gets kinda crazy in this one. **

Chapter Thirteen

Dovewing tried to get back to sleep. The nursery had been comfortably quiet since Fernkit had stopped coughing. Still, she couldn't get to sleep. Dovewing tried eating a mouse, but it didn't help. She'd tried walking around the clearing and rearranging her nest. She just couldn't get to sleep. Cinderheart blinked up at her from her nest.

"Why aren't you asleep Dovewing?" Dovewing shrugged.

"I guess I'm just not tired." Cinderheart glanced at her sympathetically.

"Come on, let's go to the medicine den. I'm going to see If Jayfeather can tell me how many kits I'm going to have." Dovewing figured she didn't have anything better to do, so she might as well go along. They walked out of the nursery and into the medicine den.

"Hello Jayfeather." Jayfeather turned his head towards the sound of her voice. He was busy wrapping piles of herbs. "What are you doing?" Cinderheart sounded perplexed.

"I'm getting herbs ready for when the patrol comes back."

"What patrol?" Cinderheart was still confused, but Dovewing had a horrible feeling that she knew what the patrol was doing.

"The patrol that went to go fight the badgers." _Oh no. I was right. _Dovewing thought miserably. She hoped that all the cats would come back alive. "Anyway," Jayfeather continued brusquely, "I can give an estimate on how many kits you'll have if you help me with wrapping these herbs." Cinderheart nodded, and Dovewing murmured in agreement. Jayfeather told Cinderheart to lie down. She carefully settled on the sandy floor. Jayfeather pressed his mottled gray paws on her stomach.

"It seems that you're going to have at least four kits. That's quite a big litter." Cinderheart's eyes lit up.

"That's fantastic! Thanks Jayfeather. Now, how can we help with the herbs?" Jayfeather instructed them on how to wrap the dock and marigold in oak leaves. Dovewing sighed as she rolled a juniper berry in a leaf with some marigold.

Ivypool nipped at one of the badgers. It snarled ferociously at her, and she flattened herself to the ground. She sprang up and clamped her teeth around its ear. The badger reared up and let out an angry bellow. It batted her aside with a massive paw, and she twisted in midair, barely avoiding smashing into a tree trunk

"No!" Ivypool though heard Cloudtail yowl. As if things weren't bad enough, a heavy sleet began to fall. Ivypool struggled to stand, but a gash on her hind leg made it almost impossible. She slammed into sopping fur, and lashed out. Her claws dug into the flesh.

"Ivypool! It's me!" Ivypool recognized Toadstep's mew and released her grip.

"I'm so sorry! Toadstep, are you okay?"

"No worse than before." He assured her ruefully. Ivypool glanced around, the sleet had turned to snow and hail. The white powder blew in swirls around her. She flattened to the ground.

"Where are the badgers?" she whispered to Toadstep.

"I don't know. Maybe they left." Toadstep responded, "I don't see anyone else." Ivypool pressed closer to him.

"Cloudtail! Lionblaze! Berrynose!" She tried to call loudly, but her words were lost in the wind. Ivypool crouched, pressing her fur against Toadstep's. She closed her eyes and prayed to StarClan for the storm to be over. When she opened her eyes, she found the snow and wind had lessened. _Thank you. _She didn't know if any of the cats in StarClan had heard, but she guessed at least one did, because she saw a pale gray she-cat staring peacefully at her from the middle of the clearing.

"Ferncloud?" she mewed in a hushed voice. "Is this The queen dipped her head, and then disappeared into the forest.

"What was that Ivypool?" Ivypool blinked, she'd almost forgotten that Toadstep was with her.

"I said, um... look! The snow stopped. We'd better try to find the rest of the patrol now."

Jayfeather paced back and forth around the clearing. He tasted the air every few heartbeats, and he pricked his ears so he would hear any cats that entered the clearing. He heard Brightheart pad past him.

"Why aren't they back yet?" he snapped, talking about the patrol that had left to fight the badgers. "We're not getting anything done around camp. We need fresh-kill!" Brightheart stopped walking to respond.

"It's fine Jayfeather. We still have plenty of strong warriors back here at camp. And I can go hunting if you want. Plus, I'm sure they'll be back soon." Jayfeather flicked his tail.

"Could you go hunting? I know I'm not in charge of patrols, but Millie's probably hungry, and I bet the elders are too." Brightheart nodded and hurried out of camp. Jayfeather walked into his den and began listing remedies that would help battle wounds. _Dock for scratches. Marigold stops infection. _He didn't want to doubt the patrol, but he couldn't help thinking if they weren't back by now, something must have gone wrong. Jayfeather heard a shocked yowl, and raced into the clearing. Snow and hail swirled around the clearing. He fought his way through the strong wind, and slammed into a den. He grunted and pulled himself out of the branches of the nursery. Jayfeather ducked inside. The queens were staring at him from their cozy nests.

"What's going on?" mewed Cinderheart as Millie pulled her kits closer to her, tucking them into the moss.

"It's just a sudden storm. I'm sure it'll be over soon." Shadekit shook her mother off, and padded up to him.

"Are you the medicine cat?" she squeaked. Her sister leaped out of the nest as well.

"Why do your eyes look like that?" Fernkit questioned boldly.

"Hush!" snapped Millie, dragging them both back into her nest. Jayfeather's ear twitched, but he didn't say anything. "Don't mind them." She meowed apologetically.

"It's fine." He muttered. Jayfeather couldn't afford to be angry at the kits, not while they were in the middle of a potential crisis. As he poked his muzzle back into the clearing, he realized with shock that the winds and snow had died down. He was surprised that it had happened so quickly, but he was pleased.

"The snow's stopped!" he announced.

**Is it a sign from StarClan that Ferncloud appeared in the middle of a random storm? R&R.**


	15. Chapter 14

**Hey guys! Another chappie. This one's kind of boring, I even got bored writing it. I think the next chapter will be more exciting. Enjoy!**

Chapter Fourteen

Lionblaze groaned and shook himself awake. He blinked blood out of his eyes and sat up. The clearing was empty, aside from broken branches and traces of blood. There was a fine layer of snow over the ground. As he glanced around, he realized that he must have crashed into the tree behind him when he was fighting the badgers. _But where are the others? _He asked himself. Lionblaze stood and padded through the trees. He found Foxleap Cherrysky and Seedpaw under a holly bush, licking their wounds.

"Foxleap!" he called. The reddish tom glanced up.

"Lionblaze! Where are the others? We couldn't find anyone, so we gave up." Foxleap said. Lionblaze shook his head helplessly and limped over to them. Seedpaw had a nasty scratch on her forepaw, and Cherrysky's muzzle was looked as though it'd been clawed, but other than that, they all seemed to be okay.

"What happened to you?" gasped Cherrysky. Lionblaze glanced self-consciously down at his pelt. It was matted with blood and he was missing fur on his shoulders.

"I haven't gotten around to grooming myself yet." He muttered. Cherrysky straightened up, looking important.

"Well, you can see to that now." She commanded. Lionblaze crouched down and lapped rapidly at his fur. He winced as he ran his tongue over several deep scratches down his side.

"We have to find the rest of the patrol." Foxleap nodded.

"I hope they're okay," he added worriedly. "Let's go looking for them as soon as we're done here." Lionblaze flicked his ears.

"That sounds like a good idea to me. We should start looking in the general vicinity of the battleground." The other cats nodded, and they set out. Lionblaze sniffed around the base of a large oak.

"Hey!" he called to the rest of the patrol, "Come here!" Foxleap in the lead, they came dashing over. "Look," he mewed in a hushed voice, "there's another entrance to the tunnels!"

Dovewing sighed as she rolled over in the nursery. It was starting to become quite cramped in the cozy den. She scrambled to her paws; she didn't think she could take another heartbeat in the stuffy nursery. Cinderheart glanced up at her as she started to leave.

"Where are you going, Dovewing?" Her friend queried casually.

"I don't know," Dovewing admitted, "I guess just to the clearing, but I might go on a walk." Cinderheart pulled herself up into a sitting position.

"Mind if I join you?" Dovewing shook her head, so Cinderheart stood and followed her out into the camp. Dovewing pointed her tail at the thorn tunnel, and Cinderheart nodded and walked towards it. Soon they were padding side by side in the forest.

"Where do you think the patrol is?" Cinderheart sounded worried, and Dovewing assumed it was because her mate, Lionblaze, was leading the patrol.

"I think they're fine, they might have, um, gone hunting or something, after they fought the badgers off." Dovewing mewed quickly, trying to be optimistic. Cinderheart nodded doubtfully.

"Maybe, but we should look for them anyway, just in case." Dovewing shrugged.

"Alright, if you want." She opened her jaws to scent the air. "I think they passed through here!" she exclaimed. Cinderheart hurried over and they padded off deeper into the forest. As they walked, Dovewing pricked her ears, trying to hear the patrol. She extended her hearing as far as it would go. She focused in on the badger set, but the patrol seemed to have already left. Dovewing straightened in alertness.

"Mouse!" she'd heard the creature scuffling through the leaf debris in the oak tree next to them. Cinderheart immediately dropped into a crouch, and Dovewing did the same, Cinderheart advanced swiftly towards the brown body. Dovewing sprang out, yowling, and chased the mouse into Cinderheart's claws.

"Great job!" purred Cinderheart, "let's share." The two she-cats sat down and each took a bit of the mouse. As Dovewing chewed in a contented silence, Cinderheart winced. Dovewing glanced up.

"You okay?' Cinderheart nodded, and they continued to enjoy their meal, until Dovewing thought she heard a faint yowling noise, and as she sent out her hearing, she realized the cats she was hearing were underground!

Ivypool raced through the trees, Toadstep was next to her, keeping pace. They sniffed the ground for any trace of the patrol. Ivypool bent over a flattened tussock of grass and scented the air.

"Toadstep! Over here! They came this way. I think." She added hastily as Toadstep bounded over.

"Yeah! Let's go!" They walked quickly, their jaws opened to catch any scent on the breeze.

"Stop!" hissed Ivypool, barring Toadstep's way with her tail. "Look, there are tracks leading up to that hollow in the oak tree."

"StarClan knows what could be in there." Toadstep shivered. "Come on, let's go." He led the way up to the base of the tree and sniffed the air. Then he ducked into the hollow. Whiskers quivering, Ivypool followed. A moment later, however, a familiar scent swept over her.

"Toadstep?" she heard Toadstep glance back at her. "I'll be right back. This'll only take a few heartbeats." Ivypool pushed back out of the tunnel and blinked in the daylight.

"Dovewing?" she called softly. Her sister and Cinderheart padded into the clearing.

"Ivypool?" Dovewing mewed in disbelief. "What happened? You're bleeding!" her littermate touched a scratch on her flank with her tail. Ivypool shrugged.

"I'm okay." She insisted. Cinderheart glanced around axiously.

"Have you seen the rest of the patrol?" Ivypool slowly shook her head.

"I'm sorry Cinderheart. But I'm sure they're all fine. I don't _think _any cat was killed." As soon as she said it, Ivypool realized it was the wrong thing to say. "But," she added, hoping to lift their spirits. "we were following their scent trail into that tunnel." She said flicking her tail at it. Dovewing frowned.

"Why would they go in there?" Ivypool shrugged again.

"No clue, but Toadstep's waiting for me. Are you two coming?"

"Yes!" they cried at the same time. The two queens hurried after her. Ivypool squeezed into the small opening.

"It's a tight fit." She warned. They both followed her in. "Toadstep?" she hissed. "I've brought company." He twisted around in surprise.

"Dovewing and Cinderheart?" he meowed.

"Yup." Ivypool announced. "Let's keep moving." They proceeded into the darkness for what felt like forever. Finally, the tunnel opened into an underground cavern.

"Wow." Exclaimed Toadstep. "I mean, after the tunnel battle, I thought I'd seen it all, but this..." They all seemed to be at a loss for words as they stared around.

"We've got to find the rest of the patrol, come on!" Ivypool took the lead and forged deeper into the cave. After a while, they heard Lionblaze's mew echoing off the walls. Cinderheart's eyes light up.

"Come one! What are you waiting for? Let's go!"

**Lame ending, I know. I'm not gonna post the next chapter until I get 11 more reviews. So R&R!**


	16. Chapter 15

**Alright, I know I said I wouldn't post until I got like, eleven reviews, but I couldn't help myself. I think this chapter is where it kind of starts getting interesting.**

**Oh, and Pumpkinfur? Do you mind if Pumpkinkit's not a maine coon cat? It would be kind of awkward if he was and the rest of his family wasn't.**

**R&R!**

Chapter Fifteen

Jayfeather padded over to the fresh-kill pile and swiftly began sniffing the clearing for any sign of the patrol. Millie's kits, Shadekit and Fernkit, darted around the clearing, getting under every cat's paws. Jayfeather suppressed a growl as Shadekit tumbled into him from behind. _They won't be kits forever. _He reminded himself. _Might as well let them enjoy themselves._ But that didn't mean he had to stand there getting pummeled by them. Jayfeather pushed past the bramble screen and into the medicine den clearing. He grunted in frustration and turned back into the clearing when he heard Bramblestar yowl the familiar summons.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath high ledge for a Clan meeting." As soon as all the cats had assembled, Bramblestar continued.

"Surprisingly, Leaf-fall has been generous to us, and our fresh-kill pile is well stocked. After the elders eat their fill, the rest of the Clan may have as much fresh-kill as they want." _Good. _Thought Jayfeather. He hoped that if ThunderClan ate enough now, they wouldn't be as prone to diseases during leaf-bare. He scented Sandstorm's apprentice, Amberpaw taking a mouthful of prey into the elders' den. When the rest of the cats had all settled down with their meals, Jayfeather made his way towards the still full pile. _Leaf-fall really was generous this year. _He smelled a fresh vole towards the bottom of the pile and pulled it out. As he sat down, he noticed Shadekit and Fernkit digging in excitedly to their first rabbit.

"Mmm!" Fernkit exclaimed, a tuft of brown fur on her nose, "Rabbit is _good_!" Jayfeather twitched his whiskers and took a bite of his mouse. As he chewed, he overheard Millie and Squirrelflight's conversation.

"Do you know who the father of Daisy's kits is?" Squirrelflight asked quietly. Millie shook her head, eyes wide.

"No. I've tried asking, but she just acts like she didn't hear me, then finds an excuse to leave." She reported in a hushed voice.

"Well," said Squirrelflight, "you can bet it's not Spiderleg anymore, Daisy was pretty cross with him when Toadstep and Rosepetal were kits. Plus he's in the elder's den now." Millie mewed in agreement, and the two queens padded off, leaving Jayfeather lost in thought.

Lionblaze sniffed the gash on Cherrysky's hind leg. He decided it didn't look to deep.

"Next time, don't try to climb up a boulder that's five tail lengths high." He warned. Cherrysky shrugged, her ginger pelt was plastered to her body with water. After she'd fallen off the boulder, she'd fallen in the water. Foxleap bounded up to them. His green eyes were bright with excitement.

"Hey guys!" he exclaimed. "Seedpaw and I heard footsteps coming this way, we think it's the rest of the patrol!" As if on cue, Seedpaw came hurrying over.

"Come on," she begged, "can we please go check it out?" Lionblaze glanced around. He didn't hear or see anything, but in case it wasn't the patrol, and was something hostile, they'd have to be ready.

"Are you fit to travel?" he turned to Cherrysky. Seedpaw held her breath. Cherrysky stood up and tested her weight on her injured leg.

"I'm good." She informed him cheerfully.

"Yes!" Seedpaw bounced up and down, "Let's go, let's go, let's go! This way, come on!" Lionblaze rolled his eyes and followed Seedpaw down the narrow corridor. As they walked, Lionblaze noticed it was getting darker, and the tunnels were getting wider, turning into small caverns. He didn't want anything to surprise the apprentice, so he said,

"Seedpaw, let me lead." Seedpaw shrugged, looking a bit defeated.

"Okay." She moved aside and let him go in front of her. He followed the scent trail from the first time Seedpaw and Foxleap had come this way. As they approached the place where they heard other cats, Lionblaze could smell them. He realized that he recognized them. One scent was particularly familiar. He turned back in confusion.

"Guys," he meowed, "I don't think this is the rest of the patrol." Seedpaw looked appalled.

"Who is it then?" she demanded, "A giant evil badger?" Cherrysky shivered at the thought.

"Let's hope not," she mewed. "We should keep going though, we have to figure out who- or _what _it is." Lionblaze nodded, and began walking again. Suddenly, as he rounded a corner, he found himself face to face with Dovewing.

"Um, hi?" Dovewing stuttered. She laughed nervously. "Funny meeting you here, huh?" Lionblaze glared at her.

"Speaking of that," he growled, "What are you doing here?" Dovewing flinched.

"Sorry. We came looking for you guys. Cinderheart insisted." She added quickly. Lionblaze glanced behind her and rolled his eyes.

"Cinderheart _would _insist on something as mousebrained as that." He muttered, but Dovewing was relieved that he didn't sound as mad anymore. Cinderheart waved her tail half-heartedly,

"Hey, Lionblaze!" she murmured awkwardly. Lionblaze padded over to her.

"If I didn't love you so much, I'd probably claw you to shreds right now." He muttered jokingly. Cherrysky's eyes widened.

"Aww! That's so sweet!" she gasped. Lionblaze glared at her and she shrugged innocently.

"Come on! We should keep exploring! Who knows what could be down here!" Seedpaw called from further down the tunnel. Foxleap's whiskers twitched in amusement.

"Which is exactly why we _shouldn't _go exploring. We wouldn't want to get caught in a sticky situation." Foxleap began picking his way up a slope made of fragments of rock.

"This looks like where the tunnels caved in, I think we can get out this way," he pointed his tail towards a hole in the roof. Dovewing mewed in agreement, and leapt to a larger piece of rock. She glanced behind her to make sure Cinderheart was doing okay. The gray queen was going to be kitting soon, and might have a hard time keeping up. Thankfully, Cinderheart was keeping pace. Seedpaw leapt from rock to rock, exploring every crevice and crack she found.

"Hey guys, look! This rock looks kind of like Lionblaze's face when he's mad!" she cried. Lionblaze shook his head exasperatedly and kept walking. That only encouraged Seedpaw though.

"See! He looks like that right-" The end of her sentence ended in a high pitched shriek as the boulder she was standing on gave way and she almost tumbled all the way down the slope. Luckily, she managed to grab onto a thin ledge. For once, her eyes were filled with fear, not excitement.

"Help! Please!" Dovewing paced anxiously around the edge, trying to find an angle to grab her from, but she couldn't. Seedpaw scrabbled frantically, trying to pull herself up to a safer place, but the thin rock she was clinging to suddenly gave way. Lionblaze dove for her, but Cinderheart was faster, and grabbed Seedpaw before she could fall. They both landed on the rocks. Ivypool gasped and ran forward.

"Are they okay?" Dovewing wondered. Seedpaw pulled herself into a standing position. Her eyes were filled with dismay.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!" She turned to Cinderheart, who was standing behind her. "Thank you so much! You saved my life!" Cinderheart's breath was coming in short gasps, and her eyes were bright with pain.

"Cinderheart?" breathed Dovewing.

**Ooh! What's happening? (it's kind of obvious) ***SPOILERS***Get ready to welcome the Lionblaze and Cinderheart kitties in the next chapter!***SPOILERS****

**And for those people who are still pm'ing me with kit names, I already have all the kits' names, and descriptions, and warrior names, so I don't need any help. Thanks though. R&R! **


	17. Chapter 16

**Yay! Kitties! They're coming in this chapter. So yeah. Please please please review! Enjoy!**

Chapter Sixteen

Ivypool examined Cinderheart. She didn't seem to have any cuts or visible injuries, so what could be wrong? The answer hit her like a large ShadowClan tom. _The kits! _Cinderheart seemed to notice everyone staring at her and straightened up a bit.

"I'm...fine...really!" she tried to sound convincing, but nobody looked fooled. Seedpaw let out a shrill wail.

"This is all because of me! If I hadn't been so stupid, she never would've had to rescue me!" then she paused, "What's wrong anyway?" she added the question like it was an afterthought, and Ivypool realized nobody else knew what was going on. She stepped forward.

"I'm no medicine cat, but I'm pretty sure her kits are coming. Now." Dovewing and Lionblaze gasped in unison.

"Now?" sputtered Lionblaze. When Ivypool nodded mutely, he leapt to his paws.

"I'll go fetch Jayfeather." He yowled, bounding up the rocks and out of the tunnels. Dovewing sighed.

"Typical tom, refuses to stay and help." She muttered. Foxleap looked offended.

"Hey, I'm still here." Ivypool tapped him with her tail.

"I think we're forgetting about the real issue." Foxleap's eyes widened as he remembered and he quickly turned back to Cinderheart.

"So what do I do?" he asked, looking lost.

"How am I supposed to know?" Seedpaw exclaimed. "This is all my fault." She muttered again. Cinderheart shook her head.

"It's not...your fault!" she told her between gasps. Ivypool glanced around.

"Since there are no places for her to lie down in here, I suggest we get her outside, as fast as we can." Dovewing nodded determinedly and helped Cinderheart to her feet. She tried to shake her off, but Ivypool was glad to see that her sister didn't move away. Cherrysky moved to help her. Foxleap padded nearby, unsure of what to do. Seedpaw trailed behind, looking miserable.

"We have to get her back to camp! Does anyone know where we are?" Seedpaw perked up, glad to be able to help.

"We're near Sky Oak!" Ivypool nodded.

"Okay, so we should head that way!" she pointed with her tail, and they started walking that way. Suddenly, Jayfeather burst out from a bush.

"Stop! He cried.

"What are you doing? You never move a queen once she's started giving birth!" They scuffled their paws in embarrassment.

"Sorry Jayfeather." Mewed Dovewing. "We thought we were doing the right thing. By the way, where's Lionblaze?" at the mention of his brother's name, Jayfeather huffed indignantly.

"He claimed he had to go talk to Bramblestar with Cloudtail, as if this isn't more important. That's just like him." Cherrysky perked up.

"Does that mean the other patrol is back?" she asked hopefully. Jayfeather nodded.

"They just got back to camp." Ivypool let out a sigh of relief.

"Phew. Now everyone's good." Jayfeather rolled his eyes.

"Everyone _except for_ _Cinderheart _whom I came to help." Ivypool gasped and licked her chest fur embarrassedly.

"Oh, right." Jayfeather shook his head and bent over Cinderheart. He placed a paw on her stomach.

"Guys," he mewed. Everyone looked up at him. "I'll need some wet moss and a branch." Cherrysky and Toadstep scampered off to get the materials he needed. Cinderheart let out a low moan. Dovewing pressed her muzzle into Cinderheart's side.

"You're doing great." She encouraged. Jayfeather swatted her away with his tail.

"Give me space." He hissed. Ivypool and Dovewing jumped back. He nosed her swollen flank.

"The first one's coming soon." Toadstep came back, dragging a heavy stick. Jayfeather pushed it towards Cinderheart.

"Here, bite this when the pain comes." Cinderheart bit down on the branch immediately. Cherrysky dropped a bundle of dripping moss beside her head.

"Drink that if you get thirsty." He commanded. Cinderheart's round belly clenched with a contraction. "The first one's coming." He announced. Dovewing held her breath, and Foxleap winced. Cinderheart bit deep into a stick, and a golden kit tumbled out. Cinderheart let out a sigh of relief.

"It's not over yet," Jayfeather warned as he licked the newborn kit. He pushed it over to Foxleap.

"Watch this one. If it stops breathing, let me know." Foxleap looked horrified at the prospect, but took the tiny kit. Cinderheart dropped the stick and shrieked in pain.

"Second one's coming." Jayfeather bent over Cinderheart and licked her flank. He nodded. A ripple passed through her swollen belly, and another golden kit was born. This one had spiky fur. Jayfeather placed his paws on her stomach and felt it.

"Alright." He mewed. "Two left I think." Cinderheart screeched again and bit down on the stick. He passed off the kit he was licking to Ivypool. Jayfeather crouched next to Cinderheart.

"Push!" he commanded. Cinderheart pushed as hard as she could, until a fluffy gray kit slid out. "Good job." Jayfeather told her as he passed the kit to Seedpaw.

"Thank goodness we have so many cats here." He muttered. A powerful ripple passed through her swollen stomach. Jayfeather stood by nervously. He'd never helped deliver such a large litter before. He snatched up the golden bundle and passed it to Dovewing. He breathed a sigh.

"I think we're done." He meowed. "Come on, let's go back to camp." He helped Cinderheart to her paws, but she crouched, hissing in pain. Jayfeather's sightless eyes stretched wide as he realized what was happening.

"Another kit!" he exclaimed. He pressed Cinderheart into a lying down position. "Mousebrain." He muttered to himself. Cinderheart gritted her teeth and braced herself. Jayfeather picked up the kit and licked it vigorously.

"Now," he mewed, "we can go back to camp."

"So you've found another entrance to the tunnels?" Bramblestar sounded surprised. Lionblaze nodded. "And what about the badgers? Did you beat them?" Lionblaze nodded again.

"They all ran off, but it might have been because of the storm." Cloudtail flicked his ear in agreement.

"Well, either way, they're gone. Berrynose and I got stuck in the set, luckily, the badgers were nowhere to be found." Cloudtail reported. Bramblestar stood.

"Have any of you seen Toadstep, Seedpaw, Dovewing, Ivypool, Cherrysky, Cinderheart and Jayfeather?" Lionblaze stood as well.

"Yes. I was just with them. Cinderheart started kitting, so I sent Jayfeather to help." Bramblestar's amber eyes widened in surprise.

"And you didn't stay to help?" he purred teasingly. Lionblaze shrugged. Bramblestar cocked his head as he heard footsteps approaching the camp.

"Well, we better go down and help now. You'll want to name your kits." Lionblaze bounded down from high ledge after Bramblestar. The patrol came into camp carrying the kits. Jayfeather led Cinderheart directly into the nursery. As soon as they were settled, Lionblaze hurried in. Cinderheart glanced up at him, looking exhausted.

"Hey," she mewed tiredly. "We've got five kits. Four she-cats and one tom." _Wow. _He thought _five kits is a lot. _Millie glanced over sympathetically.

"It'll be tough for you two. The most I've raised was three." Cinderheart nodded and yawned.

"Let's name these kits before I fall asleep." She purred and pointed at the larger golden she-cat with her tail.

"This one looks just like you." Cinderheart announced. How about... Leopardkit? Because she's golden like a leopard." Lionblaze shook his head.

"She doesn't have any spots. What about Goldenkit?" he suggested. Cinderheart purred.

"I like that. Thistlekit for the tom?" Cinderheart asked. Lionblaze nodded.

"Sounds good. What should we name the other three?" Cinderheart sighed.

"I feel like I'm dreaming. I never thought I'd have a mate, much less five healthy kits!" Lionblaze thought for a moment.

"Let's name the gray she-cat Dreamkit then. She looks like you." Cinderheart touched the she-cat lightly.

"Dreamkit, I like it. Would you mind if I named the other golden she-cat Honeykit? After my sister?" She meowed. Lionblaze nodded.

"Not at all. But only if you let me name the tortoiseshell Hollykit, after mine." Cinderheart licked the tortoiseshell.

"It's a deal." She purred.

**Aw! Goldenkit, Thistlekit, Dreamkit, Honeykit and Hollykit! Please review!**


	18. Chapter 17

**Yay! Kitties coming in this chapter. **

Chapter Sixteen

Ivypool examined Cinderheart. She didn't seem to have any cuts or visible injuries, so what could be wrong? The answer hit her like a large ShadowClan tom. _The kits! _Cinderheart seemed to notice everyone staring at her and straightened up a bit.

"I'm... fine...really!" she tried to sound convincing, but nobody looked fooled. Seedpaw let out a shrill wail.

"This is all because of me! If I hadn't been so stupid, she never would've had to rescue me!" then she paused, "What's wrong anyway?" she added the question like it was an afterthought, and Ivypool realized nobody else knew what was going on. She stepped forward.

"I'm no medicine cat, but I'm pretty sure her kits are coming. Now." Dovewing and Lionblaze gasped in unison.

"Now?" sputtered Lionblaze. When Ivypool nodded mutely, he leapt to his paws.

"I'll go fetch Jayfeather." He yowled, bounding up the rocks and out of the tunnels. Dovewing sighed.

"Typical tom, refuses to stay and help." She muttered. Foxleap looked offended.

"Hey, I'm still here." Ivypool tapped him with her tail.

"I think we're forgetting about the real issue." Foxleap's eyes widened as he remembered and he quickly turned back to Cinderheart.

"So what do I do?" he asked, looking lost.

"How am I supposed to know?" Seedpaw exclaimed. "This is all my fault." She muttered again. Cinderheart shook her head.

"It's not... your fault!" she told her between gasps. Ivypool glanced around.

"Since there are no places for her to lie down in here, I suggest we get her outside, as fast as we can." Dovewing nodded determinedly and helped Cinderheart to her feet. She tried to shake her off, but Ivypool was glad to see that her sister didn't move away. Cherrysky moved to help her. Foxleap padded nearby, unsure of what to do. Seedpaw trailed behind, looking miserable.

"We have to get her back to camp! Does anyone know where we are?" Seedpaw perked up, glad to be able to help.

"We're near Sky Oak!" Ivypool nodded.

"Okay, so we should head that way!" she pointed with her tail, and they started walking that way. Suddenly, Jayfeather burst out from a bush.

"Stop! He cried.

"What are you doing? You never move a queen once she's started giving birth!" They scuffled their paws in embarrassment.

"Sorry Jayfeather." Mewed Dovewing. "We thought we were doing the right thing. By the way, where's Lionblaze?" at the mention of his brother's name, Jayfeather huffed indignantly.

"He claimed he had to go talk to Bramblestar with Cloudtail, as if this isn't more important. That's just like him." Cherrysky perked up.

"Does that mean the other patrol is back?" she asked hopefully. Jayfeather nodded.

"They just got back to camp." Ivypool let out a sigh of relief.

"Phew. Now everyone's good." Jayfeather rolled his eyes.

"Everyone _except for_ _Cinderheart _whom I came to help." Ivypool gasped and licked her chest fur embarrassedly.

"Oh, right." Jayfeather shook his head and bent over Cinderheart. He placed a paw on her stomach.

"Guys," he mewed. Everyone looked up at him. "I'll need some wet moss and a branch." Cherrysky and Toadstep scampered off to get the materials he needed. Cinderheart let out a low moan. Dovewing pressed her muzzle into Cinderheart's side.

"You're doing great." She encouraged. Jayfeather swatted her away with his tail.

"Give me space." He hissed. Ivypool and Dovewing jumped back. He nosed her swollen flank.

"The first one's coming soon." Toadstep came back, dragging a heavy stick. Jayfeather pushed it towards Cinderheart.

"Here, bite this when the pain comes." Cinderheart bit down on the branch immediately. Cherrysky dropped a bundle of dripping moss beside her head.

"Drink that if you get thirsty." He commanded. Cinderheart's round belly clenched with a contraction. "The first one's coming." He announced. Dovewing held her breath, and Foxleap winced. Cinderheart bit deep into a stick, and a golden kit tumbled out. Cinderheart let out a sigh of relief.

"It's not over yet," Jayfeather warned as he licked the newborn kit. He pushed it over to Foxleap.

"Watch this one. If it stops breathing, let me know." Foxleap looked horrified at the prospect, but took the tiny kit. Cinderheart dropped the stick and shrieked in pain.

"Second one's coming." Jayfeather bent over Cinderheart and licked her flank. He nodded. A ripple passed through her swollen belly, and another golden kit was born. This one had spiky fur. Jayfeather placed his paws on her stomach and felt it.

"Alright." He mewed. "Two left I think." Cinderheart screeched again and bit down on the stick. He passed off the kit he was licking to Ivypool. Jayfeather crouched next to Cinderheart.

"Push!" he commanded. Cinderheart pushed as hard as she could, until a fluffy gray kit slid out. "Good job." Jayfeather told her as he passed the kit to Seedpaw.

"Thank goodness we have so many cats here." He muttered. A powerful ripple passed through her swollen stomach. Jayfeather stood by nervously. He'd never helped deliver such a large litter before. He snatched up the golden bundle and passed it to Dovewing. He breathed a sigh.

"I think we're done." He meowed. "Come on, let's go back to camp." He helped Cinderheart to her paws, but she crouched, hissing in pain. Jayfeather's sightless eyes stretched wide as he realized what was happening.

"Another kit!" he exclaimed. He pressed Cinderheart into a lying down position. "Mousebrain." He muttered to himself. Cinderheart gritted her teeth and braced herself. Jayfeather picked up the kit and licked it vigorously.

"Now," he mewed, "we can go back to camp."

"So you've found another entrance to the tunnels?" Bramblestar sounded surprised. Lionblaze nodded. "And what about the badgers? Did you beat them?" Lionblaze nodded again.

"They all ran off, but it might have been because of the storm." Cloudtail flicked his ear in agreement.

"Well, either way, they're gone. Berrynose and I got stuck in the set, luckily, the badgers were nowhere to be found." Cloudtail reported. Bramblestar stood.

"Have any of you seen Toadstep, Seedpaw, Dovewing, Ivypool, Cherrysky, Cinderheart and Jayfeather?" Lionblaze stood as well.

"Yes. I was just with them. Cinderheart started kitting, so I sent Jayfeather to help." Bramblestar's amber eyes widened in surprise.

"And you didn't stay to help?" he purred teasingly. Lionblaze shrugged. Bramblestar cocked his head as he heard footsteps approaching the camp.

"Well, we better go down and help now. You'll want to name your kits." Lionblaze bounded down from high ledge after Bramblestar. The patrol came into camp carrying the kits. Jayfeather led Cinderheart directly into the nursery. As soon as they were settled, Lionblaze hurried in. Cinderheart glanced up at him, looking exhausted.

"Hey," she mewed tiredly. "We've got five kits. Four she-cats and one tom." _Wow. _He thought _five kits is a lot. _Millie glanced over sympathetically.

"It'll be tough for you two. The most I've raised was three." Cinderheart nodded and yawned.

"Let's name these kits before I fall asleep." She purred and pointed at the larger golden she-cat with her tail.

"This one looks just like you." Cinderheart announced. How about... Leopardkit? Because she's golden like a leopard." Lionblaze shook his head.

"She doesn't have any spots. What about Goldenkit?" he suggested. Cinderheart purred.

"I like that. Thistlekit for the tom?" Cinderheart asked. Lionblaze nodded.

"Sounds good. What should we name the other three?" Cinderheart sighed.

"I feel like I'm dreaming. I never thought I'd have a mate, much less five healthy kits!" Lionblaze thought for a moment.

"Let's name the gray she-cat Dreamkit then. She looks like you." Cinderheart touched the she-cat lightly.

"Dreamkit, I like it. Would you mind if I named the other golden she-cat Honeykit? After my sister?" She meowed. Lionblaze nodded.

"Not at all. But only if you let me name the tortoiseshell Hollykit, after mine." Cinderheart licked the tortoiseshell.

"It's a deal." She purred.

**R&R please!**


	19. Chapter 18

**Enjoy this chapter!**

Chapter Eighteen

Lionblaze stood atop highrock assigning that morning's patrols. He scanned the cats in the clearing; most of the Clan was just starting to pad sleepily out of their dens.

"Brightheart, Poppyfrost and Foxleap, I want you to check the abandoned twoleg nest." Brightheart gathered the other two warriors and led them out of camp. Lionblaze glanced around.

"Toadstep, Rosepetal, and Sandstorm, take Amberpaw and patrol the WindClan border, we still haven't figured out why they didn't go to the Gathering." Sandstorm padded into the apprentice den to find Amberpaw, and Toadstep and Rosepetal finished their meals quickly. Seedfall and Lilywish hurried eagerly towards him.

"What about us?" called Seedfall. "What can we do for our first patrol as warriors?" Lionblaze considered the options. Someone needed to clean out the elder's den, but he decided that he could ask Ivypool to tell Snowpaw to do that. Seedfall and Lilywish deserved to at least go on real patrol for their first one as warriors.

"You two can go hunting near the Sky Oak." Lilywish's eyes lit up.

"Great! We'll be back by sun-high." Lionblaze's whiskers twitched with amusement for her enthusiasm. Bramblestar walked out of his den. He paused when he saw Lionblaze.

"Have you organized the patrols?" Lionblaze nodded. Bramblestar looked pleased.

"Were you planning on doing anything yourself? I need someone to go hunting." Lionblaze glanced at the fresh-kill pile and saw that it looked quite empty.

"I sent out Seedfall and Lilywish, but I could go as well." Bramblestar nodded.

"I made the right choice when I made you my deputy. Well, I'm off to visit Squirrelflight. By the way, your kits are very cute, if you get the time, you should go see them later." Bramblestar bounded away, leaving Lionblaze feeling happy. _Bramblestar thinks I'm a good deputy!_ He raced away from camp and into the forest. He crouched down when he spotted a mouse, and began to creep forward. But before he could pounce, an orange she-cat, her belly round with kits, darted out of the bushes. Lionblaze reared up in surprise.

"Who are you?" he mewed in shock. The she-cat stared nervously at him.

"I am Thunder." She replied.

Dovewing stretched luxuriously in her nest, but as she cat up, her muscles screeched in protest.

"You should stop going on secret midnight adventures, Dovewing." She murmured to herself. She glanced at Daisy out of the corner of her eye. She just wanted to make sure she was still there. Last night, after she couldn't find Daisy in camp, she'd gone looking for her. Dovewing had slunk through the undergrowth, following her scent trail. Finally, the trail stopped in a small clearing. Dovewing heard voices, and crouched behind a tree, hoping they wouldn't see her.

"It's just as much your fault as it is mine!" that was Daisy's high-pitched mew, followed by a much lower and vaguely familiar voice.

"I'm sorry, you're right, we're both to blame." Dovewing inched forward, trying to get a glimpse of the tom, but they were both hidden in the shadows.

"But what about our kits?" cried Daisy.

"I'll love them as much as any other kit." Replied the deep mew. Dovewing's heart started racing. _This was the father of Daisy's kits!_

"So they're expected to grow up without knowing who their father is?" her voice was shrill.

"I'll try to visit them as often as I can. I promise they'll know who I am." Then his voice got quieter. "They just won't know that I'm their father." Daisy sighed.

"This is mostly your fault, just remember that. I've got to go before someone realizes I'm gone." _Too late._ Thought Dovewing.

"Wait!" called the tom. "I still love you." When Daisy spoke again, her voice was bitter.

"But what about _her_?" she spat. There was a long pause, and then she mewed, "We can't meet anymore. No one can know about you, about _us_." _We can't meet anymore? _Dovewing thought. _Is this a cat from a different Clan? Or a loner? Or a rogue? Who is it?_ She scented the air, trying to see if she could smell a different Clan, but all she smelled was pure ThunderClan.

"Very well." The tom's voice was sad. "I promise I'll see you again. And our kits too."

Dovewing snapped back to the present as she heard a commotion in the clearing. Cinderheart sat up in her nest.

"What do you suppose that's all about?"

Ivypool curled up in her nest, hoping to dream her way into StarClan again so she could glean more information. However, when she woke up, she was standing among a patch of stinking toadstools.

"Of course." She grumbled. "When I don't want to come here, that's when I wake up in the Dark Forest." She lifted one paw in disgust and shook of the mud. She was about to try and wake up, when she heard a screechy mew echo through the slimy trees. Ivypool gasped and scrambled into a rotting hollow log. She peered out cautiously. A silver and black cat that Ivypool had never seen before paced around in front of a brown tom. The silver one seemed to be in charge and was speaking to the brown one.

"Have you done your job, Peatclaw?" The brown tom that Ivypool assumed was Peatclaw nodded.

"Yes Silverhawk." Silverhawk looked pleased and malicious at the same time.

"So you have awakened all of the ancients?" Ivypool shuddered to think there were evil ancients as well as good ones. Peatclaw nodded, his eyes narrowed in triumph.

"Good. Very good." Hissed Silverhawk. "I assume you and the rest of our warriors will train the younger ones to be as strong as we are." Ivypool shifted in confusion. _Younger ones?_ Peatclaw's eyes glittered evilly.

"I can assure you they are loyal to StarClan no longer." Ivypool stifled a horrified gasp. They were training the young StarClan cats? She crouched lower as two more cats dragged in a black and white tom, who looked about the size and age of an apprentice. Silverhawk bared his teeth at the apprentice.

"Hello, there." He sneered. "Aren't you glad to join our ranks?" The small tom shifted his paws nervously.

"Um, I don't really..." Silverhawk leaned over in mock concern.

"What's the matter? Don't tell me you don't want revenge for not being made a warrior when you deserved it?" The apprentice straightened up a bit.

"I guess I do." He mewed in a small voice. Silverhawk smirked.

"I thought you might say that." He then turned to one of the cats who had escorted the apprentice. He was a small black cat, with a glint in his eyes.

"Glad you could join us." His purr was razor sharp.

**The dark forest is rising! Omg! R&R please!**


	20. Chapter 19

**Woo hoo! Two chapters today! Enjoy this chapter.**

Chapter Nineteen

Jayfeather was mixing marigold and dock for a scratch on Seedfall's leg when Lionblaze burst into his den. Jayfeather scowled and began to rearrange the herbs that his brother had disturbed.

"Thanks Lionblaze, I just finished fixing these after Fernkit and Shadekit thought it would be fun to go exploring in my den." He scolded. He could tell his brother didn't care and he could feel excitement sparking off his pelt.

"Never mind that!" Lionblaze exclaimed, proving his point. "I found a loner!" he waited as if he expected Jayfeather to actually care.

"So? I hope you chased them off." Lionblaze paced around the clearing, his swishing tail knocking over stacks of herbs. Jayfeather growled and scooped a pile of comfrey to safety.

"Not just any loner!" he cried. Jayfeather rolled his eyes.

"What, then?" he snapped. "A loner who was part of our prophecy? Or a loner who could fly?" he mewed sarcastically.

"Yes!" Lionblaze meowed eagerly. Jayfeather rolled his eyes.

"Am I _really _supposed to believe that you met a loner who could fly?" he huffed. Lionblaze sighed.

"No! No, not a loner that could fly! A loner that's part of our prophecy!" Jayfeather froze, then he sat down with his tail curled neatly over his paws.

"I'm listening." He mewed. Lionblaze sat down across from him

"I met a loner named Thunder, and she's expecting kits." Jayfeather's breath caught in his throat.

"_The four kits of thunder will save the forest._" He recited under his breath. "I want to meet this loner." He demanded. Lionblaze leapt back to his paws.

"Good. She's in the clearing, let's go." Jayfeather hurtled into the clearing. Bramblestar was talking to a she-cat in the center of the camp.

"What are you doing on our property?" Bramblestar asked.

"I'm sorry. I'm just passing through." Jayfeather leaned forward as Bramblestar continued.

"Very well. I expect you to be out of our territory by night-" before he could finish, Jayfeather broke in.

"Feel free to stay until your kits are born." He blurted. He could feel the Clan's gazes boring into his pelt, and murmuring broke out among the cats.

"You may now make yourself comfortable in the nursery." Bramblestar's voice was sharp with surprise and disapproval. As Thunder padded towards the nursery with Daisy, Bramblestar faced him.

"Jayfeather, I would like to see you in my den please."

Lionblaze pushed his way into the nursery. He licked Cinderheart's head. She glanced up, clearly pleased to see him. She wrapped her tail protectively around their kits. Lionblaze licked the tom.

"Aren't they cute?" he purred. Cinderheart nuzzled his head with her muzzle.

"I think they're perfect." She responded. As Lionblaze turned to leave, Thunder spoke up.

"So you're the father?" she asked. Lionblaze nodded.

"This is my mate, Cinderheart, and our kits, Goldenkit, Thistlekit, Dreamkit, Honeykit, and Hollykit." Thunder leaned over to get a better look at the kits.

"They're beautiful." She commented. Cinderheart purred.

"We think so too." Thunder's whiskers twitched in amusement.

"Are names very important to your Clan?" Lionblaze nodded immediately. Cinderheart mewed in agreement.

"What we do," she told her. "Is give each kit a name that ends with kit, but we can choose the beginning. Then, when they become apprentices, the end of their name will change to 'paw', and when they're made warriors, Bramblestar, our leader, will choose the end of their name to something that describes what they are like." Thunder nodded slowly.

"I know it's a lot to comprehend all at once." He tried to assure her. "But if you decide to stay with your kits, they'll have names like this." Thunder looked a little worried.

"Will I have to change my name as well?" Lionblaze shook his head empathetically.

"Not necessarily. We have cats here, like Daisy and Millie who kept their own names, but have kits with Clan names. This is Millie's second litter, and Daisy's expecting her third, all of them have Clan names." Lionblaze thought Thunder looked a bit relieved.

Dovewing pretended to be resting in the nursery, when really, she was looking at any toms who came in the nursery. Lionblaze had come in, but he had hardly looked at Daisy, plus he was in camp when she heard Daisy and her mate talking. Bramblestar had come in that morning, but Daisy had been eating in the clearing when he came in, so he wasn't meeting her. Cinderheart must've noticed that she wasn't actually sleeping, because she glanced up at Dovewing occasionally.

"Looking for anycat in particular?" she finally mewed. Dovewing shrugged, trying to stay nonchalant.

"Not really." She replied. Cinderheart's expression softened.

"Come on Dovewing, we're going for a walk." She looked over at Daisy and Squirrelflight.

"Could you two watch my kits? I'm going to stretch my legs." Thunder looked up interestedly.

"Could I help?" Cinderheart purred.

"Of course. I'll be back soon." As soon as the gray queen stood up, her kits stirred in their sleep. Cinderheart tucked some extra moss around them and pushed her way out of the nursery. Dovewing trailed after her as they exited camp. They walked for a while until they reached a comfortable spot under the shade of an oak tree. Cinderheart settled comfortably on the mossy ground and looked expectantly at Dovewing. She shifted awkwardly. Cinderheart shot her a sympathetic look.

"Dovewing, we're friends. You can tell me anything, and I'll keep your secret." Dovewing shook her head.

"I can't tell you this. What if- what if you told somebody?" she realized it was the wrong thing to say as hurt sparked in Cinderheart's blue gaze.

"I get it." She murmured sadly. "I guess we're not the friends I thought we were." She got to her paws and began to pad away. Dovewing leapt to her paws.

"Cinderheart! Wait!" but it was too late, her friend was already gone.

**Aw**.** :'( that's so sad. R&R please!**


	21. Chapter 20

**Hey guys! This chappie is super weird. But I hope you enjoy it anyway!**

Chapter Twenty

Ivypool led Snowpaw through the forest. He bounded after her. He kept running around and asking stupid questions.

"Is this my warrior assessment?" Ivypool rolled her eyes.

"Um, you've just been made an apprentice." Snowpaw drooped a little bit.

"Oh yeah." Then he perked up again. "So where are we going?" Ivypool kinked her tail to tell him to follow her.

"We're going to the WindClan border. Sandstorm's patrol went there, but they haven't come back yet. If anything happens, I want you to run back to camp and tell Bramblestar what happened. Okay?" Snowpaw nodded solemnly.

"Okay." He followed her to the stream that separated ThunderClan territory from WindClan territory. They reached the border just in time to meet Sandstorm and her patrol running back over the border. Blood was dripping from Amberpaw's face and Toadstep was supporting his sister Rosepetal because there was a deep scratch on one of her hind legs. Ivypool hurried over to Sandstorm, while Snowpaw padded over to Amberpaw and licked his littermate's cheek.

"What happened?" Ivypool gasped to Sandstorm. The ginger she-cat winced.

"WindClan's got a dog problem. You'll hear about it when I report to Bramblestar. All I can say is that I hope cats stop getting injured, Icecloud still can't go on patrol, and I assume Rosepetal won't be able to either. Would you mind helping Rosepetal? Toadstep's been supporting her the whole time." Ivypool nodded and bounded over to Rosepetal and Toadstep. When Rosepetal saw her coming, she pushed off Toadstep and hobbled forward.

"Do you need something Ivypool?" Ivypool's whiskers twitched.

"No, Rosepetal, I only came to help you and Toadstep." Rosepetal let out a purr.

"Thanks Ivypool. I hate being a drag on the Clan, but we could really use your help." Ivypool whisked her tail across Rosepetal affectionately.

"You're not a drag, we've all needed help sometimes, come on, let's go to camp."

Jayfeather deftly began sorting herbs. He stacked a pile of juniper berries and tucked them into the crevice. Then he lay out comfrey leaves to dry. He was just getting started with the dock leaves, when he heard a patrol coming into camp. He wouldn't have thought much of it, except he could smell the sharp tang of blood. He ducked outside the medicine den, and scented the air.

"Sandstorm, Toadstep, Rosepetal, and Amberpaw are in the patrol. Rosepetal and Amberpaw are bleeding. Not deep scratches, but they might get infected." He listed to himself. He heard a surprised mew, and turned to the side. He could scent Thunder standing next to him. He could also smell surprise coming off her pelt.

"You could tell all that just by sniffing the air?" she mewed in shock. Jayfeather's pelt rippled self-consciously. He wasn't used to cats questioning him. He nodded uncomfortably.

"Yes." Then he hurried into his den and picked up the mouthful of dock leaves that he had left scattered. Jayfeather dashed back into the clearing and began cleaning the blood off Rosepetal's hind leg. Amberpaw started to walk towards the apprentice den, only pausing to cough. Satisfied that Rosepetal would be okay, Jayfeather sat under highrock, waiting for Sandstorm to explain what happened. Finally, the ginger she-cat padded forward. She dipped her head respectfully to Bramblestar.

"As you know, we went to patrol the WindClan border since we didn't know why they didn't show up at the Gathering. When we got to the border, we scented dog, and heard barking. Of course, we went to help them. Sadly, Crouchpaw of WindClan was killed. I took the patrol to speak to Onestar. He said that twolegs have been letting the dogs loose there all the time. He said they'd already lost an elder, Webfoot, when he went to get water. It wasn't even safe for them to go to the Gathering. I believe that WindClan is slowly starving. Onestar wouldn't admit it, but it's clear by looking at their warriors that they're going hungry." Bramblestar nodded slowly.

"Thank you Sandstorm. We'll have a regular patrol on that border. If any border patrol scents or sees dogs, they will come to WindClan's aid immediately." Dustpelt padded forward.

"Are you sure that's safe? Do you remember what it was like when there were dogs loose in the old forest?" Bramblestar bowed his head.

"I was young at that time, but I remember as well as anycat the lives that were lost. Do you wish that on WindClan, Dustpelt? We cannot allow one Clan to be wiped out." Spiderleg dipped his head.

"Well spoken Bramblestar. You sounded like Firestar."

Lionblaze was sharing a mouse by the fresh-kill pile with Berrynose when Millie rushed out into the clearing, her eyes shining.

"Lionblaze, your kits are opening their eyes!" Lionblaze scrambled to his paws and pushed his way into the nursery. Daisy and Squirrelflight were crowded around Cinderheart's nest. Lionblaze peered in. Thistlekit, the tom, blinked open his eyes. He had bright green eyes. Next, the bigger golden kit opened her big amber eyes. Cinderheart let out a purr.

"Now she looks _exactly_ like you." Dreamkit blinked open her eyelids to reveal deep blue irises. Hollykit and Honeykit opened their eyes at almost the same time. Both their eyes were green like Thistlekit's. Lionblaze purred.

"They're great." Although Cinderheart nodded, Lionblaze noticed that she looked a little upset; he also noticed that Dovewing was sitting in the corner, watching forlornly. Lionblaze stormed out of the den, hissing in Dovewing's ear as he passed,

"Come with me. Now." Dovewing obeyed, getting to her paws and following him into the forest. He headed far away from camp, towards the ShadowClan border. As he walked, a heavy drizzle began to fall. When he finally stopped, he turned to face Dovewing. Her ears were flattened and water was streaming off her whiskers.

"What did you do to Cinderheart?" he demanded. Dovewing crouched lower to the ground.

"I-I'm sorry." Her voice was a pitiful mew. "I didn't mean to." Lionblaze felt a rage burning inside him.

"WHAT DIDN'T YOU MEAN TO DO?" Dovewing winced.

"I didn't mean to make her mad. I didn't do anything to her. I just didn't tell her something. I can't go giving away all my secrets, can I?" there was a hint of pleading in her mew, as if she was begging him to understand. But Lionblaze didn't understand. It didn't matter as much that she didn't tell Cinderheart something, but what did she mean, 'I can't go giving away all my secrets'? What secrets did she have? Maybe it was because Lionblaze didn't know what was going on, or maybe because he was angry with himself, but for some reason, he found himself lunging at Dovewing. But when his claws connected, it wasn't gray fur, but dark brown tabby. He lurched back in surprise, but he felt the cat attacking him back. In shock, Lionblaze felt himself being slammed into the dirt ground. Lionblaze writhed around, but his attacker held him firm. _What? Impossible. _He thought. _I've never been beaten by another cat before!_ He managed to flip himself over, and he found himself staring into murderous amber eyes. He knew all at once, that this cat would kill him if he could. Lionblaze fought back harder, and managed to push the cat off him, but before he could attack again, the cat leap nimbly out of reach. As the cat crouched in front of Dovewing, Lionblaze realized the cat was Tigerheart.

"Tigerheart?" he whispered. The tabby tom let out a low growl.

"Nobody hurts Dovewing." He snarled. Lionblaze wasn't sure who was more surprised, himself, or Dovewing.

**Like I said, crazy! I hope you enjoyed reading this though. I loved writing it. R&R please! (I know Lionblaze can't be beaten, but I had to make him lose for the ****_story_****) :) **


	22. Chapter 21

**symonybaloney- Lionblaze didn't get 'hut' 'inbattle', nor did he get ****_hurt _****in ****_battle_****. He just got surprised and temporarily subdued by Tigerheart. **

**Pumpkinfur- OMG! OMG! OMG! Did you get an account? AWESOME! Plus, I feel the same about Tigerheart and Dovewing. **

**Enjoy the chapter. **

Chapter Twenty-one

Dovewing had stared in shock as Tigerheart had attacked Lionblaze and saved her from practically being killed by her former mentor. Then, she had stared in shock as he boldly faced Lionblaze and told him nobody could hurt her. Now, she didn't know what to do. Lionblaze obviously didn't either, as he stood, gaping, looking from her to Tigerheart and back again. Finally, she managed to stutter out a few words.

"Tigerheart...? What...?" The cat she used to love dipped his head.

"I understand you no longer have feelings for me, but I could hardly stand by and let you get ripped to shreds, could I?" Dovewing felt her heart ache with the injustice of the situation.

"I do love you Tigerheart. More than you could know, but I can't. I'm so sorry, but I've chosen ThunderClan." Tigerheart nodded, his gaze filled with fresh sadness.

"I know. There are no hard feelings, Dovewing. I understand. I love you too." Dovewing nuzzled him for a heartbeat, before he pulled back.

"I love you Dovewing." He said again before disappearing into the mist. Dovewing lowered her head and began to pad slowly towards camp. She glanced up at Lionblaze. The golden tom looked horrified at the prospect of what he could've done.

"I'm sorry Dovewing I-" but Dovewing didn't want an explanation. All she wanted was to get back to camp. She plodded through the storm, her tail trailing in the mud. When she finally reached camp, she pushed her way into the nursery and curled into a ball in her nest. She heard Lionblaze whispering to Cinderheart, but right now, all she could feel was fresh sorrow from her renewed heartbreak.

Ivypool stretched. Her muscles ached from another expedition in the Dark Forest. Toadstep brushed through the entrance to the warrior's den.

"Finally, I thought you'd never wake up." He purred, butting her shoulder affectionately with his muzzle. Ivypool inhaled his familiar scent. She twined her tail with his as they padded out of the warrior den. Cloudtail rolled his eyes as they headed towards the fresh-kill pile.

"Why not just announce that you're mates already?" he muttered. Ivypool felt her pelt begin to fluff up with embarrassment, but Brightheart shot Cloudtail a sharp look.

"Don't act like you weren't like that too." Ivypool twitched her whiskers with amusement as a flustered Cloudtail tried to deny it. As they sat down to share a starling, Toadstep said,

"I was ready to say we were mates." He purred. Ivypool stared.

"Really?" she gasped. Toadstep took a bite.

"Sure," he replied easily as he chewed. "That's what I would like to be, your mate. If you want me to be yours, of course." That was a no-brainer for Ivypool.

"Of course!" She exclaimed. "I would love you to be my mate." Toadstep nodded, seemingly satisfied.

"Alright then, that's settled. Would you like to take Dewpaw and Snowpaw hunting?" Ivypool nodded and stood. She ducked into the apprentice den.

"Hey Snowpaw!" the white apprentice stirred in his nest next to Amberpaw. His sister woke up when he did. The pink scratch down the side of her face was healing well, and Ivypool was secretly glad that Amberpaw wouldn't be mauled for life like her mother.

Jayfeather was mixing a poultice of marigold and horsetail for Rosepetal's scratch, when Millie dashed into his den. Worry sparked from her pelt.

"Fernkit's cough is back. I think it's worse this time." Jayfeather sighed; Millie was probably making this a bigger deal than it actually was. He searched quickly through his stores, but he didn't have any catmint. He cursed under his breath and grabbed some tansy instead. He followed Millie into the nursery. He was expecting to leave after a few heartbeats, annoyed at Millie for making him come to the nursery, but when he sniffed Fernkit, he smelled the familiar tang of sickness. Fernkit coughed, and her tiny body trembled with the force. Jayfeather sucked in his breath. Shadekit was crouched beside her sister.

"What's wrong with Fernkit? Why can't we play?" Jayfeather ignored her, while Millie reassured her.

"Fernkit will be better soon. She's a bit sick, but Jayfeather's taking care of her. You just need to stay away from her until she gets better, okay?" Shadekit nodded gravely. But as Jayfeather lifted Fernkit and started towards the entrance to the den, Shadekit shrieked in protest.

"Where are you taking her?" she cried. Jayfeather put down the kit.

"I'm taking Fernkit to the abandoned twoleg nest so other cats won't get sick."

"No!" wailed Shadekit. "You can't leave her all alone!" Millie nuzzled her for a moment before saying,

"I'll be with her, she won't be alone." Shadekit stared at her mother.

"What about me? You can't leave me all alone either!" Millie licked her daughter.

"I bet Dovewing or Daisy or Squirrelflight wouldn't mind letting you sleep with them during the night." Shadekit whimpered and flattened herself to the mossy ground.

"What if I get hungry?" Millie glanced at Jayfeather before answering.

"You're old enough now to start eating prey. You don't need my milk anymore." Shadekit started wailing as Millie left with Fernkit, but as Jayfeather left, he heard Daisy comforting her and offering to play moss-ball with her.

**Poor Shadekit and Fernkit. Greencough! Also, you might want to reread Chapter 18, I made some minor changes to the prophecy. Well, Dovewing's kits will be coming in the next few chapters, I haven't decided yet. R&R please!**


	23. Chapter 22

**Alright. Kitties are coming in this chapter! R&R**

Chapter Twenty-two

Lionblaze followed Birchfall to the ShadowClan border. Suddenly, Birchfall flattened to the ground.

"ShadowClan!" he hissed. Lionblaze ducked down as well. He heard a rustling noise in the bushes, and then a ShadowClan warrior emerged from a juniper bush.

"The coast is clear." Hissed Smokefoot, glancing over his shoulder. The rest of his patrol crept out. Lionblaze signaled for Molefoot and Cloudtail to scout ahead. He beckoned Amberpaw forward.

"Don't fight unless you have to." He whispered. Amberpaw nodded and crept back in line. He was glad he had brought such a large patrol with him. He had Cloudtail, Molefoot, Birchfall, Sandstorm, Amberpaw, and himself. Lionblaze listened to what the ShadowClan warriors were saying. Starlingwing leaned over to Smokefoot.

"They'll never see us coming. We'll take control of their camp before they know it." Lionblaze bristled. He gestured to the trees with his tail. _Thank StarClan they understand._ He thought as they slid silently up the trunks. Cloudtail and Molefoot returned and scampered up to the high branches with the rest of them. Lionblaze tensed as the patrol began to move on, and he lashed his tail in a silent command. Just as before, the plan worked perfectly. The ThunderClan warriors dropped from the trees and landed squarely on the backs of their enemies. Crowfrost yowled in shock and pain as Cloudtail landed on his back.

"Take that you mangy fur-ball!" the white warrior hissed. Lionblaze landed on top of Starlingwing, and he sunk his claws into his ginger fur. Starlingwing let out a yowl and rolled over, but Lionblaze fastened his claws into his shoulder, and refused to let go. Starlingwing growled and tried to dislodge him, but Lionblaze held fast. Finally, with a warning nip to his hind leg, Lionblaze let go and the ginger tom fled back into ShadowClan territory. Lionblaze wrenched a battle scarred brown tom off Amberpaw and chased him away. Amberpaw scrambled to her paws, looking embarrassed.

"Thanks." She murmured while licking down her chest fur.

"Don't mention it. We should probably get back to camp and report this." He did a quick scan of the patrol to make sure they were all there and alive, luckily, they were, so he started back to camp.

Dovewing was tired of trying to find out who Daisy's mate was. She'd discretely followed Daisy all morning, but the only place she went was the fresh-kill pile to get food for Cinderheart. She curled up in her nest, and was trying to go to sleep when she felt a sharp pain. She sighed.

"Really?" she whispered to herself. "Now?" she supposed it was a better time then Cinderheart's was. She was about to call Jayfeather when she felt an excruciating pain and she ended up whimpering instead. Squirrelflight glanced up.

"Is it time? I'll go get Jayfeather." And with that, she was gone. Dovewing gasped in pain and gritted her teeth. Jayfeather whisked into the den. His blind gaze flicked over her, and he set down a twig. Before he could tell her what to do, Dovewing grabbed the twig in her jaws and sunk her teeth into the bark. Jayfeather unwrapped his bundle of herbs and sorted through them. He pulled out a stack of leaves.

"Blackberry leaves to stop bleeding." He muttered. Next were some thin spiky leaves.

"Good thing I stocked up on fennel." He murmured appreciatively. Dovewing couldn't see what came next, because her vision went black with pain. When her vision came back into focus, Jayfeather was laying down something dripping with a thick golden liquid. _Golden honey. _She thought dazedly. _Like Goldenkit and Honeykit._

"What's the honey for?" she vaguely heard Daisy ask. Jayfeather's reply was even fainter, but she made out,

"Honey gives energy." Dovewing was struggling to hold on and not to fall into the dark void that was closing in on the edges of her vision. Jayfeather leaned forward.

"You're doing great Dovewing, it shouldn't be much longer now." _Great? I feel like I'm dying!_ Dovewing felt an immense pain, then, for a split second, it ended, and then it began all over again. Daisy squealed.

"A gray tom!" she exclaimed, and as Dovewing glanced down, sure enough, she saw a little gray kit. She continued pushing as Jayfeather instructed her to. After a few moments, a silver tabby she-kit was born, and lastly, a slender striped gray she-kit.

Ivypool ducked into the nursery. Her sister was curled in a nest with three tiny kits, Bumblestripe at her side. Dovewing glanced up, looking exhausted, but pleased.

"Hey Dovewing. You're kits are adorable." Ivypool said. Dovewing lowered her head modestly.

"Thanks, Ivypool. We decided to name them Quickkit," her tail tip rested on the silver she-kit's back. "Stormkit," this time it was the tom. "And Flowerkit." The light gray striped kit stirred at her mother's touch. Ivypool leaned over.

"They're great!" she breathed. Dovewing purred proudly. Ivypool dipped her head to Bumblestripe and padded out of the den. Toadstep saw her coming out of the nursery, and said,

"I'd like to be like that someday." Ivypool twitched her whiskers in confusion.

"Like what?" she asked. Toadstep shifted from one paw to another.

"I'd like to have kits someday, is what I meant." Ivypool shifted her weight as well, not knowing what to say.

"Me too." She answered finally in a small voice. She tried to purr, but it caught in her throat. Toadstep looked away. He cleared his throat a couple of times before continuing.

"Maybe I'll go train Dewpaw now..." Ivypool raised her tail.

"Toadstep! Wait! Dewpaw's training with Dustpelt and Foxleap right now, remember?" But Toadstep kept going, hurrying out of camp almost as if he was hurrying away from _her_. Ivypool couldn't help but worry that this awkward little conversation would end up pulling them apart.

**Welcome to ThunderClan Quickkit Stormkit and Flowerkit! Ooh! Ivypool and Toadstep having an awkward conversation! R&R! (Pretty pretty please?) **


	24. Chapter 23

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while. This chapter's kind of boring. Enjoy this chapter. There are also a few mistakes in chapters 16 and 17 because I accidentally have chapter sixteen twice. I'll fix it. Enjoy this chapter.**

Chapter Twenty-three

Jayfeather curled up in his nest and welcomed sleep. When he awoke, he was standing in front of Yellowfang. He rolled his eyes.

"You again." He muttered. Yellowfang narrowed her eyes and flattened her ears.

"I'm not ecstatic to see you either." She reminded him. "However, I have things I must show you." With her parting words still hanging in the air, his vision disappeared, than reappeared in a different setting. Jayfeather found himself in a bramble-surrounded clearing. He smelled milk in one den, and assumed it was the nursery, and herbs in another, which he thought to be the medicine den. _I'm in another camp, but which one?_ The answer to that was easily figured out as a reddish tom padded out of a den, reeking of ShadowClan.

Jayfeather padded into the den that the cat had left. A large white tom lay in a nest, his breathing shallow. There was a distinct taint of sickness in the den, and Jayfeather could tell that the tom was on his last legs.

"Blackstar is dying." Jayfeather breathed. Another cat entered, it was Littlecloud this time. Jayfeather opened his mouth to scent what herbs Littlecloud was bringing Blackstar.

"Tansy, honey, coltsfoot, poppy seed, and borage." Jayfeather knew that Blackstar had greencough, and none of those herbs were the remedy for the illness. He padded into Littlecloud's den and nosed through his herb store. The tantalizing scent of catmint seemed to be missing. Jayfeather realized that ShadowClan must not have any catmint either. He nosed his way back into Blackstar's den. Littlecloud was mixing tansy and coltsfoot together, probably trying to ease his breathing and lessen his cough. He added borage and honey, possibly to lower his fever and give energy or to soothe his throat. Littlecloud topped the mixture with an excessive amount of poppy seeds, shaking out an entire headful. As Littlecloud mixed the poppy seeds in, Blackstar stirred.

"Littlecloud? Is that you?" he rasped. Littlecloud nodded.

"Yes, Blackstar. I've brought some herbs to make you feel better." Blackstar twisted his head and glanced at the herbs.

"Don't lie to me, Littlecloud." He mewed sharply. "I recognize poppy seeds when I see them, and I'm guessing that you're trying to make my journey to StarClan easier." His breath was coming in ragged gasps. Littlecloud bowed his head respectfully.

"Yes, Blackstar." Blackstar let out a hoarse chuckle.

"Thank you Littlecloud. You've served our Clan well." Littlecloud dipped his head.

"Thank you Blackstar. Please eat the herbs." The old leader lapped up the mixture, and his eyes began to droop almost immediately.

"Thank you again, Littlecloud." He mewed. Then he curled up in his nest to fall into a sleep that would bring him all the way to StarClan. Jayfeather snapped awake into the familiar darkness of his den. He stretched, then padded out of his den into the clearing.

"Blackstar is dead." He mewed to the Clan.

Lionblaze stared at Jayfeather. His brother stood in the middle of the clearing, his gray tabby fur bristling, and his tail lashing.

"How do you know that?" he asked. Jayfeather took a moment to contemplate what to say. Lionblaze assumed that he was deciding whether to tell a lie or not. Finally, Jayfeather admitted that he'd received a vision from StarClan. The warriors listened carefully as he described what happened. When he finished, Bramblestar leapt onto highrock.

"Cats of ThunderClan!" he yowled. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath highrock for a Clan meeting!" Daisy led Shadekit out of the nursery and Cinderheart followed with their five kits. They stumbled around the clearing in awe, and Lionblaze hurried over to his family. Goldenkit stared up at him with narrowed amber eyes.

"You smell familiar." She mewed cautiously. Thistlekit and Dreamkit bounded up next to her.

"Yeah!" they chorused. "We've smelled you before." Honeykit scrunched up her nose and sniffed loudly.

"I recognize it too!" she exclaimed. Hollykit was about to give her input when Cinderheart swept her tail around them.

"That's because this is Lionblaze, your father." The kits nodded, though they looked slightly confused. Cinderheart purred proudly.

"He's also the Clan deputy. He's very important. Now we should probably sit down and hear what Bramblestar has to say." Lionblaze sat down next to Cinderheart as their kits sat obediently beside her. Bramblestar swept his gaze over the Clan.

"If you haven't heard the news already, Jayfeather received a vision from StarClan telling him that Blackstar has died." A perplexed murmur erupted among the cats. Bramblestar cleared his throat and continued. "No cat will mention this to any cat outside our Clan. We don't want ShadowClan thinking we are spies. If a ShadowClan patrol brings it up, you may express your sympathy, nothing more." The ThunderClan cats dispersed quietly into their dens, clearly wanting a chance to gossip about the recent news.

Dovewing padded back into the nursery after the Clan meeting. Thunder sat watching Dovewing's kits, looking curious.

"So," mewed the ginger she-cat, "Who's Blackstar?" Dovewing swept her kits back into her own nest and began to explain.

"Blackstar is the leader of a hostile Clan called ShadowClan. If he died, that would mean the deputy would become leader." Thunder nodded slowly.

"So if Bramblestar died, would Lionblaze become leader?" Dovewing purred.

"You're getting the hang of it! If you have any more questions, feel free to ask me." Bumblestripe nosed his way into the den.

"Hello Dovewing, Thunder." He dipped his head towards the loner and peered at the kits in Dovewing's nest. Dovewing nudged the tom towards him.

"This is your father, Stormkit." The gray tom blinked open blue eyes and looked at Bumblestripe. Quickkit clearly wasn't about to be left out as she revealed her startlingly ice blue eyes and bounded forward, stumbling over her own paws. Stormkit poked Flowerkit.

"Wake up, lazy furball! Let's go exploring!" Quickkit squealed in excitement and leapt over her sister.

"Yeah, come on!" Dovewing gently pushed Quickkit off Flowerkit.

"Settle down you two. Flowerkit will open her eyes when she feels like it. You'll not leave the nursery without her either. Why don't you ask Bumblestripe what it's like being a warrior?" With her two adventurous kits out of the way, Dovewing leaned down to her smallest kit. Flowerkit curled into a ball. Dovewing licked her between her ears.

"Come on, Flowerkit. Don't you want to go exploring with Quickkit and Stormkit?" She saw Flowerkit's ear twitch, and she raised her head a little bit.

"Are you scared?" Flowerkit nodded. Dovewing leaned down. "Don't worry, I know the camp seems huge, but it's quite nice and I'm sure you'll enjoy it." Flowerkit blinked her eyes and sat up.

"Are you sure?" she mewed cautiously. Dovewing nodded encouragingly and Flowerkit stood up. Stormkit noticed, and leapt on Quickkit's back.

"Yes!" he cried. "Now we can go outside the nursery!" Quickkit wrestled him off her and tried to pin him down. Bumblestripe pulled Quickkit off Stormkit and set her down on the moss nearby. Stormkit bounded over Quickkit to get out of the nursery. Flowerkit ran after them, and Dovewing was glad to see that she didn't look nervous anymore.

**R&R please.**


	25. Chapter 24

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I do have an excuse though, I went on a trip to the lake district with my class for a week. But I'm back with a fairly boring chapter. I don't know if you'll enjoy this, but I hope you do. **

Chapter Twenty-four

Ivypool crouched and stilled the tip of her twitching tail. She eyed the shifting leaf in front of her. Ivypool could just detect the faint scent of vole. She crept forward, being careful to stay downwind of the creature. Just as she lunged forward, her paws barely brushing the ground, another cat darted out towards the same vole. Ivypool skidded back in surprise, alerting the vole, which scampered back to the safety of its den. Ivypool hissed under her breath, and looked up, ready to reprimand the cat that had ruined her hunt. She opened her mouth to scold them, but when she realized it was Toadstep, she couldn't seem to find her breath. Toadstep shuffled his paws, looking as embarrassed as she felt.

"Hey, Ivypool." He mewed awkwardly. She glanced down at her paws as Toadstep spoke again. "I'm sorry." Ivypool knew he was sorry for more than just the vole, and she decided to forgive him. She stepped forward and nuzzled him.

"That's okay Toadstep. Want to hunt together?" his eyes brightened cheerfully.

"Friends?" he asked. Ivypool nodded.

"Friends." She confirmed. Toadstep tipped his head to the side.

"Hey, what's that?" Ivypool turned towards the direction Toadstep had indicated and listened carefully.

"I hear it too. Come on." Ivypool parted her jaws to scent the way. After a while, Toadstep took the lead and led her into a clearing. Lionblaze, Jayfeather, and Dovewing were sitting and conversing. Well, maybe it was more like arguing. Lionblaze was glaring at Jayfeather, and Jayfeather was lashing his tail.

"You told Bramblestar, why, exactly?" Dovewing asked Jayfeather calmly. The blind medicine cat shrugged.

"I had to tell him about the prophecy, or he would kick Thunder out." Jayfeather said reasonably. Dovewing turned to Lionblaze.

"You see? I told you Jayfeather had a good reason." Ivypool announced her and Toadstep's arrival by coughing quietly. Dovewing glanced up and purred.

"Ivypool!" she cried, sounding quite pleased. Ivypool licked Dovewing's ear. Jayfeather nodded to Toadstep, then left. Dovewing hurried away as well, and Lionblaze followed, leaving Ivypool and Toadstep alone again. Ivypool lowered her head in embarrassment.

"Race you back to camp!" she blurted.

Jayfeather shooed Shadekit out of his den for the third time that morning. This time, she'd brought Stormkit and Thistlekit with her.

"Fernkit's almost better, and when she is, you two will be made apprentices." He told the energetic kit. Birchfall, Poppyfrost, and Sorreltail had joined Millie and Fernkit in the abandoned twoleg nest. Jayfeather was a little worried that so many cats were falling ill, but he knew that more would get sick before leafbare was through with them. As he scooped up some catmint to treat the sick cats, he noticed how low the stores were getting. He made a mental note to collect some on the way back from camp. But as soon as he stepped into the clearing, Bramblestar stopped him.

"Jayfeather, I've been looking for you." Jayfeather glanced up at the sound of his leader's voice. "Squirrelflight's been complaining about some pains." Jayfeather scented the air. Squirrelflight's scent was faint in the nursery, and her nest was cold.

"Where is she?" Jayfeather wasn't about to deal with a queen who was out hunting. Bramblestar turned.

"She's in my den." Jayfeather followed Bramblestar to his den. Squirrelflight was curled up on the floor. Jayfeather grunted.

"Well? What's the matter?" he snapped. Squirrelflight pulled herself to her paws.

"It just hurts, I don't know what's wrong." Jayfeather rolled his eyes.

"Alright, well since poppy seeds aren't recommended for queens, I'll give you dandelion leaves. I'll be right back." Jayfeather returned to his den and grabbed a mouthful of dandelion. As he was heading back into the clearing, he heard a yowl, and Fernkit tumbled into the clearing. Shadekit raced out of the nursery and leapt on her sister. Jayfeather sighed and began to put away his herbs so the kits couldn't get them when they inevitably came into his den.

Lionblaze sat in by the fresh-kill pile, sharing a finch with Thornclaw. Foxleap and Seedfall were sharing a mouse and Purdy was telling a story to Quickkit and Flowerkit. It seemed like such a good morning. Bramblestar bounded out of his den and stopped in front of him.

"Lionblaze, come to my den, I need to speak to you." Lionblaze followed Bramblestar to his den without hesitation. Squirrelflight was just leaving when he arrived. Bramblestar sat across from him on the floor of the den.

"Now that Fernkit is better, it's almost time for them to become apprentices. We still have time, but I'd like to get a head start on assigning mentors. Who do you think would be a good choice?" Lionblaze sat back, surprised. It wasn't everyday that the leader asked the deputy to help with assigning mentors. He was pleased with the honor.

"Well, we have a lot of kits, and more on the way, so we'll need lots of mentors soon. I was thinking Blossomfall for Shadekit, and Brightheart for Fernkit." Lionblaze watched as Bramblestar considered his contributions.

"I like Blossomfall, she hasn't had an apprentice yet, although, are you sure she's ready? She's a bit young." Lionblaze nodded.

"I'm sure she's ready for the responsibility." Bramblestar nodded as well.

"Very well, Blossomfall. But are you sure about Brightheart? I know that she's proved herself many times, but she clearly couldn't train Jayfeather well." Lionblaze thought seriously. Bramblestar was right, but Brightheart deserved an apprentice.

"Like you said, she's proved herself over and over again. And even Leafpool had trouble with Jayfeather; he's quite a handful. You know he didn't leave his training because of her; he was destined to be a medicine cat. Brightheart is a competent warrior, and I'm sure she'll be an excellent mentor." He said fiercely. Bramblestar purred.

"Do you really think Brightheart will be a good choice?" Lionblaze nodded firmly. "Alright then. We'll hold the ceremony tomorrow at sun-high. Let the mentors know." Lionblaze dipped his head respectfully and exited the den.

**Hmm. I just realized how short my chapters are. Maybe I'll make them longer. (Don't get your hopes up) Anyway, like I said, boring. R&R!**


	26. Chapter 25

**I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long. I finally got my new laptop, so now I can hopefully update more regularly. I also posted an extra long (for me) chapter for you guys since I haven't updated in forever. I hope you guys like it. **

Chapter Twenty-five

Dovewing sat next to her kits as she waited for the ceremony to start. Fernkit and Shadekit's pelts were sleek and well groomed. Millie and Graystripe stood proudly next to them. Dovewing wondered who the mentors would be. As she thought, Bramblestar bounded out of his den and onto highrock.

"We are meeting here for Shadekit and Fernkit's apprentice ceremony. Would Fernkit please come forward?" the small gray she cat stepped forward. Brightheart, can you also come forward?" The ginger and white warrior came forward as well. "Brightheart, you've proved your place in this Clan many times over. I believe you will be an excellent mentor to Fernkit. Now, Fernkit, from this day forward, do you promise to uphold the warrior code with your life?" Fernkit dipped her head nervously.

"I do." she whispered.

"Then from this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Fernpaw."

"Fernpaw! Fernpaw!" Fernpaw and her mentor touched noses while the Clan cheered for the newest apprentice. Bramblestar waited for the noise level to die down before continuing.

"Shadekit, do you also promise to uphold the warrior code with your life?" Unlike her sister, Shadekit stood tall, and her response rang out across the clearing.

"I do."

"Then from this day until the day you receive your warrior name, you'll be known as Shadepaw. Blossomfall will be your mentor." The tortoiseshell and white she-cat padded forward proudly. She and her apprentice touched noses while Bramblestar spoke. "Blossomfall, you proved your loyalty to ThunderClan when you turned your back on the Dark Forest and helped defeat them. I hope you will pass on some of this loyalty to Shadepaw."

"Shadepaw! Shade-" the Clan's jubilant cheering was interrupted by Squirrelflight buckling in pain beside Dovewing. Flowerkit and Stormkit squealed and darted closer to her, while Quickkit scampered across the clearing with her tail sticking straight up in the air. Jayfeather leapt to his paws. The cats immediately near Squirrelflight murmured nervously to one another, but nobody else seemed to notice.

"Stay calm." Jayfeather hissed to Thornclaw, who looked like he was going to collapse as well. Bumblestripe scooped up Quickkit before she could go anywhere else. Jayfeather quietly led Squirrelflight into the nursery. Dovewing set Stormkit and Flowerkit down next to Bumblestripe.

"Here, watch them." she instructed, "I'm going to see if Squirrelflight's okay." Her mate glanced questioningly at her.

"What happened?" he asked. Dovewing shrugged and hurried away. Bramblestar was pacing outside the nursery. Dovewing slid inside with a nod towards him. Squirrelflight was lying on the ground with Jayfeather's paws on her stomach. She let out a yowl as a contraction passed through her swollen belly.

"Are the kits coming?" Dovewing asked. Jayfeather shook his head decisively.

"No." then he paused and frowned. "I mean, maybe." He sighed and lowered his voice so Squirrelflight couldn't hear.

"I don't know." he admitted.

"Well, is there anything we can do to help?" Cinderheart, Daisy, and Thunder had arrived, looking eager to help. Jayfeather looked relieved at the prospect of assistance,

"Could one of you go to my den and get dandelion leaves for the pain, raspberry leaves in case of bleeding, and maybe a little bit of fennel for pain in the hips. Oh, honey too." Daisy, Thunder, and Dovewing stared uncertainly, but Cinderheart hurried off to the medicine den. "I guess there's still a little bit of Cinderpelt in her." he muttered.

"Wait." Daisy stepped forward. "This is my third litter of kits, and I've stayed in the nursery ever since I joined this Clan. I think I know the herbs used during kitting as well as any cat. And yet, you said the kits _weren't _coming." Jayfeather shrugged.

"It can't hurt to be safe, and I don't think they're coming because it's much to early." Cinderheart arrived just then, and Jayfeather sniffed the bundle of herbs. Another powerful ripple passed through Squirrelflight's round belly, and she whimpered. Jayfeather placed his paws on her belly again. "Well, there's not much I can do. You're just going to have to pull through, Squirrelflight. I'll check on you tomorrow." Jayfeather ducked out of the nursery. Dovewing shot a sympathetic glance at the dark ginger she-cat as she went to go collect her kits.

Ivypool sat in the clearing, sharing a plump thrush with Toadstep. She couldn't help but overhear the conversation Millie and Graystripe were having next to her.

"I'm going to move to the elders den, Graystripe." Millie insisted. "I'll be announcing it tomorrow. Why don't you join me? Our kits are all grown up." Graystripe purred, but shook his head.

"I love the life of a warrior. I want to keep hunting until I die." Millie hissed in frustration.

"We can- from the elders den!" Graystripe sighed.

"We're still young, Millie, we can still serve our Clan." Millie sighed too, and stood up.

"Alright. I'm going to go tell Bramblestar my decision. What I don't understand, is how we're going to stay mates if I'm in the elders den, and you're not. I came with you to your Clan, why won't you come with me to the elders den?" Ivypool watched as Millie walked away, leaving Graystripe alone, picking at their half-eaten mouse.

"Hey, are you okay?" Toadstep's meow brought her back to her own meal.

"Yeah, do you want to take out a hunting patrol?" Toadstep got to his paws and gave himself a shake.

"Sure, by the way, there's something I've been meaning to speak to you about-" he was cut off as Dreamkit and Thistlekit pounced on him. Cinderheart ran over, her eyes round with horror.

"I'm so sorry!" she mewed apologetically. Toadstep jumped to his paws.

"It's okay, I love kits. They were only playing." Cinderheart purred.

"You'll make a great father someday." She said this with a meaningful glance at Ivypool. Ivypool's fur pricked with embarrassment and she scuffled her paws on the ground.

"So," said Toadstep, like nothing had happened. "Who should we take on the patrol? I was thinking Foxleap, maybe. Snowpaw and Dewpaw for sure. And...one more?"

"How about Seedfall? She's still quite a young warrior, but she's a good hunter."

"She's good!" Toadstep responded enthusiastically, flicking the tip of her ear with his tail. They gathered the cats in the patrol an left the camp.

Ivypool watched Snowpaw catch first, a shrew, second, a vole, and third, a huge rabbit.

"Great catches, Snowpaw! The Clan will eat well tonight!" Her apprentice lugged his humongous catch to a holly bush and pushed it underneath. Ivypool herself was scraping earth over her own two squirrels and mouse when she heard Seedfall cry out. She and Snowpaw lurched around. Foxleap was standing next to Seedfall. One of her forepaws was held of the ground.

"Sorry," she mewed sheepishly. "I twisted my paw in a rabbit hole." Toadstep pushed out of the bushes across from her.

"It's okay, Seedfall. We're just glad it was nothing serious." he meowed. "It's about time we headed back to camp anyway. Is everyone ready?" Dewpaw appeared next to Toadstep with his jaws full of prey. Snowpaw struggled to lug his huge rabbit all the way back to camp. Dewpaw and Snowpaw took the lead, with Ivypool and Toadstep behind them, and Seedfall and Foxleap bringing up the rear. Ivypool leaned over to Toadstep and whispered with her mouth full of fur:

"Do they honestly think we won't notice them nuzzling back there?" Toadstep glanced behind them in surprise, then stifled a mrrow of laughter at the sight of the two ginger warriors weaving around each other and entwining their tails.

"Isn't she a bit young for a mate?"purred Toadstep as they dropped their prey on the fresh-kill pile. Ivypool shrugged as she settled down beside him. She noticed the fresh-kill pile was piled high and she knew all the cats would go to bed that night with full stomachs.

Later, as the Clan lay in the last rays of the dying sun, Bramblestar leapt onto highledge.

"Tonight we will feast in honor of our two new apprentices!" he yowled. Ivypool was relieved to see he didn't seem very worried about Squirrelflight. She figured that meant she was okay. She shared one of her squirrels with Toadstep. After they finished, Toadstep sat back.

"Listen, Ivypool, I think we both know that-" he was interrupted by Lionblaze coming over and telling her that she was going to the Gathering the next night and should probably get some sleep. She padded over to her den, and looked back at Toadstep. He was sitting alone in the clearing looking very, very, frustrated. Blossomfall, Lilywish, Cherrysky, Rosepetal, Icecloud, and Hazeltail were already grooming themselves in their nests when Ivypool came in. Ivypool noticed an empty nest in the corner.

"Where's Seedfall?" she asked Lilywish. The brown and white she-cat snorted at the mention of her sister.

"She went to go sleep in the same den as _Foxleap_. That's all she ever talks about these days. It's always Foxleap this, and Foxleap, that. And-"

"Alright, alright! We get it!" Icecloud had bristled, probably embarrassed that they were talking about her brother.

"It's not a big deal." said Ivypool. "Everyone likes _someone_."

"Oh yeah?" smirked Icecloud. "Who do you like?" Blossomfall rolled her eyes.

"Toadstep, duh! Haven't you noticed how much they hang out?"

"We're training our apprentices!" Ivypool tried to defend herself. "Besides, everyone knows you're padding after Thornclaw." Blossomfall shook her fur out hotly, but she didn't try to deny it.

"So what if I am? He likes me back!" Cherrysky purred.

"Sure he does. What about you, Rosepetal?" The cream colored rolled on her back.

"All I can say is that it sure is a shame that Foxleap's spoken for." Icecloud made a face at Rosepetal, who turned to Hazeltail. "How about you?" The small gray and white she-cat shrugged.

"I don't know, I don't really like anyone." Cherrysky nodded in agreement.

"Me either. Toms are annoying." Icecloud's whiskers twitched in amusement.

"Yeah, I guess I don't like anyone either."

Jayfeather wrapped Seedfall's paw in comfry. He shook out two poppy seeds for the pain. She lapped them up. He examined her paw one last time.

"It's not too bad, but it's worse than a thought last night. A sprain, maybe. Come back at sun-high. Do you need anymore poppy seeds?" Seedfall tested her weight on her injured paw. Jayfeather growled.

"Foxleap, get out of my stores. Do you have to wait for her in here?" The reddish tom backed out of Jayfeather's herbs.

"Sorry Jayfeather, but Seedfall and I are going to go hunting." Jayfeather rolled his sightless blue eyes.

"No, you're not. Seedfall can't go hunting on that paw. I'm confining her to camp." Seedfall started to complain.

"Please don't Jayfeather. I'm feeling better already!"

"Then I suppose you can help me check the elders for ticks. Right?" Seedfall sighed and her tail drooped.

"Alright. I guess you'll have to go without me then, Foxleap." Foxleap pressed his flank up against hers.

"It won't be as much fun without you." Seedfall perked up at that, but Jayfeather shoved him out of his den.

"Here Seedfall, you might as well help me. This is nettle. Put it over there near the parsley. These are cobnuts. They go over there by the spiderwebs. Can you fetch me some moss soaked in water? We're going to go visit Squirrelflight and see if she's okay. She might be thirsty." Seedfall glanced up.

"Are we going to the nursery? I love the nursery. Kits are so cute!" Jayfeather rolled his eyes again. Seedfall was really annoying. He padded across the clearing with her bouncing along behind him. She stopped when Mousewhisker walked by.

"Look, I sprained my paw, and Jayfeather confined me to camp!" Jayfeather grit his teeth and walked on. He ducked into the nursery. Cinderheart was busily washing Thistlekit while Daisy and Dovewing napped. Thunder was playing mossball in the corner with Goldenkit and Honeykit. Seedfall bounded over to Dreamkit and Hollykit and began playing with them.

"Where's Squirrelflight?" he asked Cinderheart. She set Thistlekit aside.

"Oh, she isn't back yet?" when she saw his confused expression, she continued. "She went to Bramblestar's den late last night. She said she'd be back soon, but, um, she's clearly not here." Jayfeather growled. Why were stupid cats always making his job so much harder?

"Thanks Cinderheart." he glanced for Seedfall, but she was gone. He sighed and left the nursery.

He didn't even bother to ask before barging into Bramblestar's den. Squirrelflight and Bramblestar were curled up sleeping in his nest. Jayfeather loudly cleared his throat and nudged Bramblestar with his paw.

"Listen Bramblestar," he began, not even pausing when he saw his leader's shocked expression. "You need to stop letting Squirrelflight come into your den." The ginger she-cat stirred and woke up. She froze when she saw Jayfeather. Bramblestar frowned.

"Why? She's fine now, see?" Jayfeather hissed.

"She's fine now, but we clearly don't know what made her _un_fine in the first place, and until we figure it out, we shouldn't be carting her around the camp every night!" he exclaimed. Bramblestar and Squirrelflight slowly looked at one another, then looked at him. Squirrelflight hustled to her paws.

"I guess I'll be going now." then she dashed out of the den. Jayfeather stretched, then calmly drew a paw over his ear. "You should probably choose a patrol for the Gathering tonight." Then he left the den, leaving his leader in a shocked silence.

**Okay, weird ending, kind of dumb, I know. R&R! I'll try to update soon.**


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